


I'll Be Good

by jess (jess_m)



Series: Dynasty [1]
Category: Captain America (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: Bucky Barnes Feels, Bucky Barnes Has Issues, Bucky Barnes Needs a Hug, Bucky Barnes Recovering, Domestic Avengers, F/M, Implied/Referenced Rape/Non-con, Marvel Universe, Multi, Original Character(s), Orphans, POV Third Person Limited, Past Abuse, Past Character Death, Past Rape/Non-con, Past Relationship(s), Post-Avengers: Age of Ultron (Movie), Protective Bucky Barnes, Rape/Non-con Elements, War Veteran Bucky Barnes
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2017-06-15
Updated: 2017-11-15
Packaged: 2018-11-14 14:44:41
Rating: Mature
Warnings: Graphic Depictions Of Violence, Rape/Non-Con, Underage
Chapters: 34
Words: 77,452
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/11210223
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/jess_m/pseuds/jess
Summary: If you had the chance to help your childhood icon and the man who saved you from killing yourself, wouldn’t you? No matter what it took?





	1. Time Passed

**Author's Note:**

> I don't own anything from Marvel. I own Kat and all original characters associated with her. The story will become canon once I reach Captain America: Civil War in the plotline.

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, you guys! I just saw Infinity War and since it utterly destroyed me I have decided to write a sequel for this story based off it! The first chapter will hopefully be up soon!
> 
> Only A Memory: Icon For Hire https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=7OiMN4JPH0w  
> Kat's Ringtone for Sam: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=-CmadmM5cOk  
> All rights over Style, belong to Taylor Swift and other rightful owners

Kat Elizabeth Hastings smiled as the flames twirled and spun in her hand, the heat licking the image of the smirking man away forever. She glared at the picture of her younger self with the thirty-six year old man and set fire to the old memory.

It had been ten years and three months since Robert Hawkins had strutted into her life and she still couldn’t cleanse her brain of his whiskey soaked breath or his cold, unrelenting smile.

He had died in prison long ago but it still felt like just yesterday he was caressing her barely matured body and telling her that he loved her.

She stepped inside her small Brooklyn apartment and closed the door with a sigh.

The twenty-three year old had grown up a lot since her first kiss. She had grown to understand what Robert was really doing to her and she wanted to tear her own flesh apart at the very memory of his lips on it.

She cursed the skin she walked in. She cursed the way men’s eyes danced over her as she walked across the street. She hated all of it.

She hated all of them.

That was until she met _him._

He made her forget, even if for a short time. In his arms she truly understood love. She knew that the world wasn’t all hatred and anger.

Until he left her.

She cried for weeks and her mother held her in her arms and whispered that eventually it would be okay.

Her mother promised that one day Kat would find a love and a life that was filled with more joy and love then she could even imagine. It might take a while and a lot of work, but it would happen.

That was the night her mother and father died in a car crash.

She wondered if that happiness would ever come.

She collapsed onto the sofa and was about to turn on an old movie when her phone rang out Taylor Swift’s _Style._

_You got that James Dean_

_Daydream_

_Look in your eye_

_And I got that red lip_

_Classic_

_Thing that you like_

Speaking of boyfriends.

She sighed as she picked up the phone

“Sam Wilson, did we not break up a year ago? Did I just dream that happened?”

“No?”

“Then why are you still calling me everyday?” She wondered and she heard his sharp laughter pierce the other line.

“Because Kat, I have something you might like to hear.”

“Why would I want to hear anything from you again? Reminder that we did break up because you called my music taste weird and freaky.”

“Still the weirdest reason a woman has chosen to end it with me but that’s not the point. I have a story that you can make fun of me for.”

Kat immediately sat up with wide eyes, fascination curling around her senses. “Where are you? I’ll be there in six minutes," she told him grabbing her keys as she bolted outside.

Sam laughed. “Good to know your sense of humor never changes.”

She called a cab and headed over to Sam’s apartment, giving the driver a tip if he broke a few laws to cut through rush hour traffic.

She raced out of the car, throwing money at the poor old man and banging her hand on the door so hard she worried she might get splinters.

He swung open the door topless and she rolled her eyes as she shoved past him, walking into her apartment as if it were her own home. “Nice to know your wardrobe hasn’t changed," she remarked, heading into his kitchen to grab a soda.

“What? I was getting ready for work.”

She smiled and nodded as if that was _obviously_ what he was doing.

“Speaking of work, when are you going to find me a job?” She asked, collapsing back on the couch and sipping her soda like she lived there.

“You are sending me very mixed signals here Katty," he said, placing his hands on his hips. "First you want me to stop calling you now you want me to find you work?”

“One, I told you in high school, _please_ stop calling me Katty it’s not cute. Two, I know I’m never going to get rid of you Sam, but you can’t blame a girl for trying," she shrugged. "If I _really_ wanted you to stop calling I would just stop picking up the phone,” she shrugged and he nodded.

“Fair point, and I don’t have a job just yet. I’m not Superman you know.”

“But you _are_ working with Captain America?" Kat reminded him, a small grin dangling across her lips. "The guy you idolized in middle school? You had a poster of him on your bedroom wall? If he can’t find me a job nobody can,” she sighed.

“You do realize he just recently woke up from being stuck in the ice for about seventy years right?”

“Details, details,” she waved her hand distractedly.

He chuckled. “Well, I was thinking of asking you to help Stark, but-”

“You wanted me to be a doctor for Tony Stark?!” She exclaimed.

“He said no,” Sam finished lamely.

“Tony Stark? _The_ Tony Stark? As in billionaire, playboy, philanthropist Tony Stark?”

“The one and only.”

“Do you not remember how gramps felt about him?” She laughed. “I believe his exact words were ‘stuck-up, petty rich kid with no understanding of how basic humans live’.”

“Yeah, I remember,” Sam rolled his eyes. “Which is why it’s good he said no.”

“What about the Avengers as a whole?" Kat suggested "Could I work just as the Avengers doctor?”

Sam shrugged. “I’d have to ask Cap.”

She sighed and leaned back against the couch. “Rents coming up soon, Sam. Please, please please, hurry.”

He raised his hands in surrender. “I’m doing the best I can, Katty. I promise.”

She nodded and smiled at him. “So what’s this story you called me about?”

He chuckled. “Alright so I’m in my suit-," he began, sitting down by her side as he prepared to give her a truly incredible story.

“Bird wings and everything?”

“Whole deal," he nodded, taking a deep breath before he continued. "And I hear there’s a perimeter breach at Headquarters. Right on the roof. Naturally, I’m the only guy there that can deal with it-”

“Naturally!” She giggled. 

“I go up to the roof and there’s nobody there. Not a soul. At first I’m thinking this was some stupid trick, when I’m punched by nobody!”

“Ha!”

“I look around, and I start getting my ass kicked by what looked like fucking nothing! I started to wonder if Shield had come up with some invisible tech and the agents were fucking with me when I see it. A little tiny man running on the roof.”

“Holy shit!” Kat always loved listening to Sam's stories with the Avengers. They always managed to surprise her. 

He nodded. “He wasn’t bigger than my little finger but he had the strength of ten men.”

She grinned. “Hold on, so you’re telling me there was a man the size of a tic tac that broke into headquarters and you tried to fight said tic tac… and lost?!”

He nodded again, a small smirk on his lips as he noted how entertained she seemed. “See I knew you would like this.”

She rolled her eyes. “Why didn’t you just step on the guy?!”

“I was afraid he would flip me onto my fucking back!”

She laughed at him so hard she couldn’t breath. “You got beat up by a tic tac!”


	2. Time Passed

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Sam's Work Ringtone: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=f3jZgng-3c0

Bucky Barnes was utterly alone in the world.

He had no purpose. No reason for being.

And yet he carried on like the mindless soldier he had been trained to be for so long.

He wished he could have died when he fell off that train.

It would’ve been so easy and it would’ve been for his country. He could’ve died for his country.

Instead, every step he took felt like it was stolen from one of the many people he killed.

Those people. Those innocent, brave, intelligent people could have continued to walk the earth and contribute so much then he ever had.

But no.

He had to kill them. To rob the world the world of their brilliance.

Bucky took a shaky breath and glanced up at the unfamiliar streets that lied before him.

He watched the people of Brooklyn numbly.

This city was his home but it had changed so much since he was last there.

Hydra had robbed him of everything; his family, his friends, his innocence.

They had even managed to take away the familiarity of a place he had once called home.

He clutched his head, groaning roughly as the tainted memories swam across his poisonous mind.

_“Soldier” the thick Russian accent chuckled. “We have your next mission.”_

He screamed at the man and the children playing in the streets backed away in terror. Their mothers clung to them just a bit tighter as the strange man with the metal arm hollered in dozens of languages, each impossible to make out through the gargled screams.

~~~

Natasha Romanov stared in awe at the black and white screen. She was surrounded by various computers and monitors in the room, each serving on purpose: hunting for James Buchanan Barnes.

Tony had implemented a communications room in the Avengers headquarters to hunt for the missing soldier the day after Sam Wilson showed up and complained for three hours about maxing out his credit card flying across the globe for Sergeant Barnes. 

When Steve tried to go out and spend months hunting for him on his own, Tony offered an alternative solution. 

He built the communications room and linked all the computers to police reports and newscastings searching for keywords that pertained to Bucky Barnes.

That had a couple false cases, resulting in some very awkward meetings on the streets of Beijing and Manchester, but as Natasha read the report on her screen, she genuinely believed they had found the missing soldier.

“Steve!” Nat bellowed. The Captain bolted through the hallways, carelessly running into a few disgruntled agents before he arrived in the communications room, wide- eyed and slightly out of breath. Natasha barely looked up at his arrival. “We got a call into the police. A woman said some homeless guy in her neighborhood with a metal arm was screaming in foreign languages. Scaring all the kids to death.”

“It’s him,” Steve breathed. “We have to go after him.”

Tony Stark sighed as he walked into the room, shaking his head slightly as his desperate friend. He had spotted the super soldier darting through the hallways and easily guessed what he was so excited about. Those days, the Cap didn't get worked up over much except finding Bucky. He followed Steve down into the communications room and smirked arrogantly when Nat confirmed what he had already known.

“Now, hold on there big guy. We can’t just storm in there and grab your buddy off the street without any questions being asked,” Tony reminded him. "Remember Beijing?"

Steve just shot him a firm glare, Tony could tell his mind was already made up and he rolled his eyes. “We have to get him, Tony.”

“I know but we have to be smart about this. Send someone in who the general public wouldn’t recognize in a split second and then have a forty five minute long news story about for the next two months."

“Not just one man though?” Natasha clarified. “You do remember that he nearly killed Steve and I in D.C right?”

“How could I forget? You two wouldn’t stop gloating about the whole thing for the next six months,” Tony moaned.

“You gloated?” Steve muttered.

Natasha shrugged with a small smile. “I had to.”

“We can send a small team of agents in for the extraction. You know the ones who didn’t turn Hydra at the drop of a hat,” Tony offered.

“No, wait,” Steve thought. “We can send Sam in and have Maria and Sharon drive him back. Sam has been looking for Bucky for months, and Maria and Sharon can handle him if things do go wrong. At least they can until backup arrives.”

Tony nodded. “Well, are you gonna call bird-man or should I? Not like the tin man is gonna stay in the same place just waiting for someone to save him.”

“I’ll call Sam,” Steve nodded and Tony left.

“What are we just leaving me out of this?!” Natasha exclaimed. “I am the one who found him,” she reminded Steve.

“I know but he knows you. He’ll remember you from D.C. I’m sorry, Nat, it’s too risky.”

She rolled her eyes. “Yeah, and leaving him with bird boy isn’t?” She muttered bitterly.

Steve sighed and picked up his phone to call Sam.

~~~

Sam’s phone rang with a “special” ringtone and Kat choked on her drink when she heard it.

“Charming,” she laughed.

“Oh, shut up,” he rolled his eyes. “Hi, Steve.”

Her jaw dropped. “Why, Mr. Sam Wilson you are something else!” She exclaimed. She got up and went to get a snack from Sam’s kitchen while he continued to talk to Steve.

“What, you found him? You’ve gotta be kidding me, I spent months looking for this guy and he’s here? Yeah, I’ll help but- wait can I bring a friend of mine?”

“Ex!” Kat called. 

“An ex-girlfriend of mine,” Sam amended. “Yes, I know that sounds weird but she’s a doctor. I mean her dad was in the army for a few years. Cool, thanks.”

Kat sniffed some food in a container and dumped it in the trash. “You really need to clean out your fridge more,” she mumbled before looking up at him. “What’s going on?”

Sam tried to figure out a way to word what he planned to show her, but eventually gave up with a sigh and grabbed his coat. “Easier to show you.”

“Okay..,” she hesitated. “Is it gonna be something really weird that’s going to make me ultimately regret leaving my bedroom this morning?”

He chuckled. “No,” he thought for a moment. “Well, maybe. You always were a history fanatic though so probably not.”

“We were both history fanatics, buddy. Remember your creepy obsession with Captain America?”

“Oh, so we’re bringing that up twice in one day? Fantastic," Sam rolled his eyes. Sometimes he questioned why he remained friends with her.

~~~

Sam drove Kat to the location Steve said and sure enough, there was already a van there with a blonde and brunette woman, talking to the police about _not_ arresting the strange homeless man with the metal arm.

Bucky sat in the alleyway, oblivious to the woman trying to protect him merely trying to focus on one thing because at the moment he was everywhere and nowhere at once.

Kat gasped and fell back a few steps when she saw him. Her whole world slowly shifting on its axis. “Is that-?”

Sam grabbed her arms and pulled her back a few steps. “Yes, it’s Bucky Barnes, yes he's still alive, and yes I had to keep this information from you," Sam said, already knowing every question his best friend was going to toss his way. "I’m gonna need you to _not_ go crazy fangirl Katty on me.”

“But- But he died. He fell off the train. The only Howling Commando to give his life in the line of duty,” she repeated from the museum she had been to dozens of times growing up. Her vision never left Bucky as Sam tried to snap her back to reality.

“Hey, hey, I kept my cool meeting Cap you gotta keep your cool with this.”

She almost laughed at the thought. “You stopped obsessing over Cap in middle school. I loved his story throughout med school.”

“And that is why I’m going to need you to put that in a box filed ‘freak out about later’. Remember how your dad was after the war? That’s how he is now. So keep your cool and be that incredible doctor who finished high school and med school before everyone her age could even figure out what they wanted to do with their lives.”

She nodded numbly and took a deep breath. “What happened to his arm?”

~~~

Sam managed to get Bucky in the van with minimal struggle and only two knockout drugs that he had to force inject him with, and the women, who Kat eventually learned were called Sharon Carter and Maria Hill, were currently driving them back to Headquarters.

Kat could not stop staring at the unconscious soldier. She felt like she was on cloud nine sitting in the same vehicle as him, but something kept nagging at her.

In the corner of her mind she felt a small voice screaming that somethig happened to the honorable soldier she had adored.

She scooted over towards Bucky despite Sam’s protests and looked him over.

“Katty-!” Sam called.

She held up a finger and examined the place where his skin stopped and the metal began. She had seen prosthetics before, but nothing quite as intricate as this. It seemed the arm was shaped to his muscles specifically.

Kat had seen more than her fair share of wartime photos of James Buchanan Barnes. This guy was her first childhood crush. She had admired his bravery throughout her life and even considered joining the army because of him.

She had spent so much time in the museum that one of the security guard’s knew her by name.

In med school, she slowly started to drift away from her love for the soldier admiring doctors instead as she progressed in the medical field. She occasional thought of the man she had loved longest and even turned a bit pink in the cheeks thinking of it then.

Some people admired celebrities or political activists or religious figures, she had admired a supposedly dead war hero.

_“Kathy, dear, are you planning to go back home to your mom and dad anytime soon?”_

_The old security guard asked and the fifteen-year-old girl simply shook her head._

_“Mom and dad aren’t home again. Back at work.”_

_The old man sighed and walked over to her. “We have to close up soon.”_

_“You can leave me the keys again. It’s not like I’m going to steal anything. Well, not again.”_

_“That’s not what I’m worried about.”_

_The girl looked up at the old man sheepishly. “I wish I could meet him. Hearing his story helps a lot, sir. It helps me think there are good people out there. Good people who care about others.”_

_The old man sighed and sat down beside the girl. “You know, I think he would have loved you.”_

“Who hurt him?” She whispered. Her voice was barely audible but it soon as she spoke.

“I think you should back away-” Sam tried to pull her away from Bucky but she just fought against him.

“Someone hurt him, Sam! He has scars up and down his back. This arm was put on with no intention of being nice, and he has wounds across his abdomen that mirror mine after Robert. Now, who hurt him?”

“I believe that question can be answered by someone who knows a lot more than we do,” Maria informed her as she opened the double doors. “But right now, we need your help getting Bucky to his room.”

She glared at Sam, but nodded and started to help Bucky out of his restraints.


	3. Bandaids Don't Fix Bullet Holes

Tony Stark sighed as he lounged in his chair across from an anxious Kat Hastings and a bored Sam Wilson in his office pouring yet another whiskey.

“Sorry, I’m not quite wrapping my head around this. This secret organization that was running inside Shield, named after a Greek monster that is kind of terrifying kidnapped Bucky in 1945 when he fell off a train and supposedly died and brainwashed him, using him as a weapon for seventy something years?”

“Yep, that’s it exactly,” Tony smirked as he sipped his drink. “I have the detailed files if you ever want some late night readings. But be warned, the shit in there is nightmare material.”

“No, thanks. I have enough nightmares to fuel an army," Kat mumbled with a roll of her eyes.Tony shrugged and nodded, not bothering to explore the subject further. If it was him, he wouldn't want some random asshole interrogating him on his nightmares. "What I’m not getting is I read about Hydra. It was disbanded in the forties after Steve Rogers flew the plane into the goddamn ocean.”

Tony raised an impressed eyebrow. “Got a smart one here, Wilson, and a looker at that too.”

“She did graduate high school at sixteen," Sam reasoned.

“And she is still in the room listening to everything you’re saying.”

“Right, Hydra was brought back covertly inside Shield by Dr. Arnim Zola.” Tony told her.

“Oh, yeah. He was Steve’s prisoner for a while and helped them because he really had no other choice," she chuckled. "He was a Swiss scientist and Shield recruited him a while later because he could help them. After all, he was a certified genius just really odd," she shrugged. "You’re saying he grew Hydra in Shield like some sort of virus?”

Tony nodded and frowned at the girl, lost in thought as he peered at her familiar looks and overwhelming intelligence. “Who are your parents? Brains like that I feel like I’d have known your parents.”

“They worked for Shield most of their lives. Thomas and Elizabeth Hastings, and that’s past tense. They died in a car crash when I was nineteen.”

“I’m sorry, but you said they worked for Shield? What did they do?”

“My dad was a scientist, my mom was a surgeon. Why?”

“I feel like I may have met them,” he shook his head and sighed. While the names did sound familiar, he couldn't place particular faces to the names, so he dismissed the matter. “Regardless, I think it’s time for the good doctor to go.”

“Wait,” she said, holding a hand up. “Let me look at him.”

“We have a more than capable med staff here.”

“No, but I’m not just a physical doctor,” she let out an irritated sigh as she tried to make this man see. She knew she could help Bucky it was just a matter of whether or not she would be allowed to. “My dad was in the army for two years. I know how to handle PTSD and depression. Beyond that, I’ve had training in physical and mental health. I know how to treat someone in his condition better than probably half the staff here and I’ve studied him in school all my life. I know how to help. Just let me.”

Tony smirked at her. “You got balls kid. I like that. Tell you what, you can meet Cap. If he gives the okay then be my guest. It’s not really my place to decide anyway. I’ll take you to him in just a second,” he downed the last of his whiskey and Kat rolled her eyes before he cleared his throat and nodded. “Let’s go.”

~~~

They rounded the corner to find Steve pacing anxiously in front of a room that had Russian being screamed so loud, Kat wondered if Russia could actually hear what was being said.

Regardless, she took a deep breath and put herself to the test.

She decided now was the best time to prove herself to Steve if she was going to get the job looking after Bucky.

This man had safeguarded her childhood without knowing it and now she felt the need to pay him the same respect. It was only because of him after all that she was still confidently standing there.

“Don’t-Don’t touch me. No more missions. Please. I don’t want anymore missions.” She roughly translated and Steve’s head whipped towards her so fast she worried he might get whiplash.

Then again, he was a super soldier who had survived being a popsicle for seventy years. Maybe, whiplash was beneath him.

“What did you say?” He questioned and she held up a finger.

“Translating. I liked learning languages in high school so I could learn five different ways of cursing without my parents knowing. Now, shh. He’s speaking really fast.”

Steve nodded with wide eyes and back away, watching her impatiently.

“I know I have failed my last mission. I am sorry. I could not kill him. He was my friend. Please do not punish me. Please do not give me more missions. Just kill me. Please just kill me. End it. The world is so different now. I don’t think I can survive in it. Just kill me.”

She looked up and saw Steve watching her in horror and desparity.

“Maybe, I shouldn’t have translated?" She guessed, nervously glancing up at Sam who was staring at his friend with concern. "Sorry, I just-”

“No, it’s okay. It’s better to know. Thank you…?” He prompted.

“Kat. Kat Hastings. I’m a doctor.”

“A doctor? Do you think you can help him?” He seemed hopeful and Kat simply smiled.

“If you let me, I can try.”

He looked back at the door which contained his suicidal best friend. He took a deep breath. “Can you try?”

She nodded and immediately headed inside.

~~~

Bucky was spending each waking second in fear of the next. In fear of what was to come. Who Hydra would want him to kill next. Perhaps, they would be unsatisfied with him leaving his previous mission alive and send him to kill him again. His friend.

He just wanted to die. He had seen the world. He knew what he would be returning to if he stayed alive. He just wanted to die. He had been denied an honorable death, so why not give him one that arose out of exhaustion?

He supposed that if he did have another mission he could just allow whoever it was to kill him, but they might wipe his memory before he had the chance.

He choked back a sob. When did his life become a question of the easiest way to die? Why couldn’t they just end it?

Just then, a woman walked in the room. She was a short, young, brunette woman. She had on a light shirt that revealed her shoulder and dark jeans.

Bucky frowned at her. She didn’t seem to be Hydra. She was far prettier than the gruesome men that had ruled Hydra. She flashed him a quick smile before she pulled out a chair and sat beside him.

“Hi, Sergeant Barnes. My name is Kat,” she introduced and Bucky simply stared at her, his eyes begging for answers about what was going to happen next.

“I heard you out there and I want you to know that there will be no more missions.”

“Are they finally going to kill me?” He asked his tone hopeful and expectant.

“No, Sergeant Barnes you’re not in Hydra anymore. Hydra is gone.”

 _Who was this woman?_ “Hydra is never gone,” he said coldly.

She frowned and shook her head. She didn't expect his tone to be so cold and she certainly did not expect that chilling statement. However, she persisted, throwing on a fake smile and wringing her hands anxiously. When did she become so nervous? “Well, you’re safe. I can promise you that.” Her heart broke watching him. Here was this man. This brave survivor who never wanted to hurt an innocent soul and all that was left was the broken pieces of him.

While full recovery wasn’t possible, Kat knew she had to help the man who she had so often looked up to. If you had the chance to help your childhood icon and the man who saved you from giving up and killing yourself, wouldn’t you? No matter what it took?

“Where am I?” He asked, glancing around at the room tentatively. If he wasn't in Hydra, who else would want him?

“You’re at an Avengers Headquarters.”

“Avengers?”

“Yes, Steve is part of the team. Steven Rogers.”

Bucky furrowed his eyebrows. The name sounded familiar, but he wasn’t certain.

_“Steven Rogers, you’ve got to be the dumbest kid in all of Brooklyn. And Queens. And Jersey.” Bucky frowned. “You’re probably the only guy I know that would get his ass kicked countless times and then keep going back for more. What was it this time?”_

_“He was being a bully,” the skinny little kid said as he brushed the dirt off of him. The guy had kicked him into the dirt and punched him repeatedly before Bucky came and told him to beat it._

_“Aren’t they all?” Bucky chuckled, wrapping his arm around the boy’s shoulders. “Come on, your mom’s gonna have a fit that I didn’t step in sooner.”_

_“You didn’t have to step him, I had him on the ropes,” Steve insisted._

_Bucky laughed. “Then I’m sorry I stopped him from bashing your face in before you could have your moment of glory. My apologies.”_

“Steve,” he breathed.

She nodded. “Do you want to see him, or-?”

Bucky shook his head. “No. Don’t let him see me.”

“Understandable,” she said.

Just then, Bucky’s stomach rumbled and she giggled as his cheeks pinkened.

“Don’t feel embarrassed. It happens to the best of us. Why don’t I see about getting you some food? What would you like to eat?” She asked, getting up out of her chair.

“I don’t know,” he mumbled. He never had to pick out what to eat in Hydra. They always just gave him food and if he didn't like it, he didn't eat. Why couldn’t this woman just give him something? He didn’t care.

She nodded. “I’ll figure something out.”

He frowned at her kindness. It seemed so foreign after years of agression and indifference, and yet he found himself grateful for it. He was grateful that he was finally being treated like a human being instead of a weapon.

He felt a swell of emotion for this young girl who flashed him a quick smile before closing the door behind her roughly.

_Thank you._

~~~

“Well, that was interesting,” she sighed. “To say the least.”

“What did he say?” Steve asked.

“Well, for starters, he remembers you.” Steve smiled and she held up a finger. “But he doesn’t want to see you just yet. Don’t look upset. He has good reasoning. When my dad was discharged he hated being in the same room as my mom and I. He didn’t want us to see what the war made of him. He was ashamed. I suspect the same thing is happening in Segreant Barnes. He’s just ashamed. Even if he doesn’t realize it, something in the back of his head is telling him not to let his best friend since childhood see him like this.”

Steve nodded and took a deep breath. “Okay. Okay, well, first things first you’re hired,” he sighed with a small shrug as though that were obvious.

Kat grinned, her heart soaring as she realized what this meant. She got to treat her childhood hero. The man even her dad called a hero.

He was now her patient.

“Really?” She squeaked.

“Yeah, of course. You speak Russian and understand PTSD thoroughly. I’d be an idiot not to hire you.”

She squealed and Sam picked her up and spun her around in a hug. “Congratulations, Katty!” He exclaimed, and she laughed. Her legs were jelly as she repeated what Steve said over and over in her mind.

If she told her fifteen-year-old self she would soon be a doctor for James Buchanan Barnes, she would slap herself in the face and think it was some sick prank.

She knew he wasn’t the same man anymore, but she couldn’t help but think that somehow she was repaying some debt she owed the man.

She spun around giddily. “I have to get him some food but right now this is just sinking in.”

Steve chuckled. “Friday, can you ask Maria to get some food for Bucky?”

“Certainly, sir.”


	4. I'm Lying on The Cold Hard Ground

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> All rights to Rebel, Rebel belong to David Bowie (rip) and other rightful owners. My Russian literally goes as far as knowing how to introduce someone so if you see any major errors or I don't add a translation for anything, holla at your girl.

“You sure you can do this?” Sam asked as they walked back into Kat’s apartment.

She simply rolled her eyes, dropping her keys in a bowl by the door. She wandered over to a dog cage with a young golden retriever bouncing around happily at the sight of her. She chuckled and let the anxious dog out.

“Hi, Rufus. Yes, I’m happy to see you too,” she laughed as the happy dog licked her face.

“Katty,” Sam said in that parental tone that made Kat roll her eyes as she spun to him with her hands on her hips.

“What do you want me to say? Oh, god I can’t do this even though I have enough experience and personal knowledge to do this job with my eyes closed?”

“You know it’s beyond just personal experience, right? He’s violent. He was trained to kill people for decades. He’s not going to be the easiest person to help,” Sam reminded her as she headed into the kitchen and he followed stubbornly. “He could attack you and you’re 5’3. How do you plan on defending yourself?”

“By helping him before he can attack me?” She offered with a small smirk, getting out a tub of Ben & Jerry’s. She sighed when he raised an unconvinced eyebrow. “Alright, I’ll think of something. If I have to I’ll ask Steve or somebody to stand outside during sessions, but I _can_ do this.”

“Oh, I never said you couldn’t. I know when you set your mind on something, there’s no stopping you. I remember when you were in the ninth grade and the teacher said nobody in the class could do quadratic equations. You stayed up all night studying everything and had three cups of coffee before proving her wrong. You didn’t get a wink of sleep,” he chuckled.

She grinned. “It was worth it to see her jaw drop and the whole class laugh at her though.”

He smiled. “Just promise you’ll be careful and if he hurts you, you won’t pull that ‘I’ve had worse’ act and at least take a break or something.”

She sighed and rolled her eyes. “Fine.”

~~~

_Bucky’s screams pierced the air like a bullet as the waves of heat burned through his skull._

_The men merely chuckled at his expense as he cried. Cried for them to stop. Cried for it to be over. Cried for death._

_Every memory he had burned him. Things that were once joyful now burned to even consider._

_Occasionally, it would stop only for another wave of heat to engulf his body._

_When it was over, the soldiers grabbed his numb, useless body roughly._

_“Put him on ice,” the man spat._

_The men laughed cruelly and dragged his limp body to the cryo chamber._

He woke up screaming. He had to remind himself of what the girl said. _He was safe._ He didn’t feel safe. Not anymore.

~~~

_“_ _You've got your mother in a whirl_

_She's not sure if you're a boy or a girl_

_Hey babe, your hair's alright_

_Hey babe, let's go out tonight_

_You like me, and I like it all_

_We like dancing and we look divine_

_You love bands when they're playing hard_

_You want more and you want it fast_

_They put you down, they say I'm wrong_

_You tacky thing, you put them on_

_Rebel Rebel, you've torn your dress_

_Rebel Rebel, your face is a mess_

_Rebel Rebel, how could they know?_

_Hot tramp, I love you so!”_ Kat belted out in the shower to Sam’s amusement.

He pet Rufus as he listened to his best friend sing David Bowie awkwardly in the shower.

He heard the water turn off and got a drink from the young girl’s  kitchen before walking out and finding her in nothing but a towel.

He raised an eyebrow. “I didn’t know we were back at that but okay give me a minute and I’m game.”

She rolled her eyes and sighed deeply. 

“What are you doing here?” She asked, her hands on her hips. Her tone screamed that she was already getting ready to kick him out.

He seemed slightly amused by the question. “Did you just magically forget you don’t have a car?”

She rolled her eyes again. “I was gonna Uber it but thanks. I guess.”

“No, need to spend your money. Best Uber in all of New York right here. All it costs is some of those really good pancakes you make.”

“They’re in the fridge. Microwave them for a minute and by the way I’d hardly consider you the best.”

He chuckled and she was about to head back to her room when she froze in her tracks. “What is that I smell?”

“Oh, sorry I-”

 Kat winced. “No! Gross, I mean I smell- Pies ‘n’ thighs!” She exclaimed, running to the living room to find a box with food from her favorite restaurant inside.

“Yeah, I passed them this morning, and you know what your dad said.”

“‘Everytime you pass a Pies ‘n’ Thighs you gotta step inside’,” they quoted together with a laugh.

She smelled it and moaned. “Ugh, I haven’t had their food in forever! I’m gonna go get dressed then devour this! Be back in a jiffy!” She called, running to her room.

“God, you really are old fashioned. Steve is the only guy I know that says ‘jiffy’ anymore.”

She opened her door a crack and tossed him a wink.

~~~

Tony smirked as peered over the shoulder of his close friend Steve Rogers who was currently flicking through Kat's file.

In it was a sweet picture of her smiling for her med school I.D, followed by all the information about her they could find.

Steve seemed to be digging through it tirelessly.

“So, you’re hot for the new girl aren’t you?” Tony said, sitting down beside Steve.

“What? No, I mean she’s cute-”

“And she’s helping Sergeant Screams A Lot back there,” Tony offered.

“But she’s not my type,” he finished lamely, his fascination with her photo screaming otherwise.

Tony didn't seem to notice and flipped through the photos of her across Brooklyn. She was cute enough to grab his attention and intelligent enough to keep him from moving on.

“What? Seriously? Hell, I’d go for the girl. She’s gorgeous. Put her in one old 1940’s nursing outfits and send her in there with the tin man we might have something," he smirked.

“Tony, she’s not just an object.” Steve snapped. “She deserves respect.”

Tony raised his hands in surrender. “All I’m saying is I’ve never seen you hire anyone that fast," he reasoned, smiling at the way Steve stared at one of her pictures.

Steve rolled his eyes and grabbed his coffee. “She’s good with Bucky. That’s it.”

~~~

Kat had her head on Sam’s lap and her bare feet out the window as she ate her food.

“Y’know sometimes I think that I should get a car. Then, I look at the traffic here and remember that I don’t like being convicted for murder so best not.”

He chuckled. “This is why I moved to D.C.”

“And you came back for me?” She asked sweetly, grinning up at him.

“I came back because I met Steve.”

She rolled her eyes. “I’ve been friends with you since I was in third grade but the red, white and blue boy toy takes precedence.”

He laughed. “Boy toy?!”

"If the shoe fits," she shrugged, laughing at Sam's pure shock as she took another bite.

~~~

Bucky struggled against the restraints. He was angry. He wanted to punch something, to make something bleed.

Everything in him was screaming and it felt like his limbs were on fire. He needed something to feel the pain he was feeling.

He needed something to feel the agony that was eating him up inside.

He wasn’t quite sure who he was angry at. Maybe, himself for all he knew.

He was probably angry at himself. I mean, why wouldn’t he be? Everytime he got a flashback it was usually of some new innocent person he murdered.

He hated himself. 

The world would be a better place if they just killed him.

It would be safer.

The woman from the other day walked in and sat down beside him. She smiled kindly and Bucky wanted more than to choke the life out of her so she couldn’t smile again. What was there to be happy about?

“YA khochu zaglushit' zhizn' iz vas i kazhdogo proklyatogo vracha zdes',” he told her.

“Oh, that’s nice,” she muttered sarcastically. She sighed and looked at him “So, I’ll take it you’re feeling hostile today. Do you wanna talk about it?”

He shook his head. He didn’t want to talk. He didn’t even want to be there and yet he was sitting on that bed putting everybody there in danger. He lunged towards her, fighting against his restraints and smirking when he heard the tough metal groan under the pressure. 

However, when he looked up, he saw the woman sitting there, completely unfazed. He frowned. Why wasn't she afraid?

“I could kill you. I could kill you right here.”

“You could,” she nodded. “But you won’t.”

“What makes you so sure you can trust me?” He muttered bitterly. He couldn't trust his own mind, so why was this strange woman so sure that she could?

“I’m not sure,” she admitted. “But if you want to recover from this mess I know you won’t.”

Bucky rolled his eyes. That was bullshit. He didn't even know what he would do. This woman was fooling herself if she thought otherwise. “You can’t help me. Nobody can. You should’ve just left me where you found me.”

“Well, you’re right.” She said and he looked at her in surprise. That’s not what doctors are supposed to do. Times had changed, sure but he was fairly certain they hadn’t changed _this much._ “ Not with that kind of pessimism. You’ve given up before we even started. It’s kind of hard to help someone who spends the whole time thinking the help is not working.”

“Why do you care?” He spat.

She wanted to tell him everything. Tell him everything that he had helped her with throughout her life. Every little word on the tip of her tongue, but dissolved as she looked into his ghostly eyes.

“You are owed better than what you got,” she said simply.

He seemed surprised by his response. He didn’t believe he was owed anything except a first class ticket into hell itself. The things he had done. The universe didn’t owe him anything. He deserved death and it seemed he couldn’t even get that.

~~~

“I think it’s going well,” Sam said.

“You just think that because she’s your best friend," Natasha reasoned.

“No… Well, yes and he keeps looking at her like he’s just noticing she’s there and not hurting him for the first time so that’s good right?”

“That just means he’s getting used to not getting beat every five minutes. Don’t get too hopeful.”

“Oh, Nat, you’re such an optimist,” Sam said sarcastically, turning off the monitor.

“I’m a realist. There’s a difference.”

He rolled his eyes. “Whatever you say.”

~~~

“What did you dream about?” She asked. She knew if she could work out his dreams, maybe she could help him. Once her dad talked about his dreams after the war he always said he felt a bit better.

His eyes narrowed and grew wary of her. “Why?”

“If I know your dreams I might be able to help you better. You don’t have to tell me-”

“Good, because I don’t want to.”

She raised her eyebrows. “Oh-Okay," she signed as she leant back in her chair and glanced down at her notes. She shot Bucky a tentative glance. "Do you just want to sit here in silence until I have to leave?”

“Please,” he muttered.

~~~

Kat walked out of Bucky's room and groaned as she closed the door behind her. This was going to be harder than she thought.

Internally, she kicked herself for assuming he would just tell her everything. Sure, she idolized him but he had no idea who she was.

“How did it go?” Sam asked.

“Depends. Is sitting in silence for two hours with only the sound of the air conditioning to keep you sane good? Because if so it went fucking fantastic.”

He sighed. “He just has to warm up to you.”

“He’s been frozen, beaten, and treated like nothing more than a weapon for seventy years, Sam. He’s going to need a lot more than just liking me to be able to tell me all his deepest darkest secrets.”

“Well, what are you suggesting? You said he didn’t even want to see Steve, so you don’t really have a lot of options here,” Sam reminded her. “I would just wait it out if I were you.”

“No, no, no, that’s not it,” she frowned, raking her fingers through her hair. “There’s something I’m missing. Something, something…,” she mumbled.

“Oh God, you’ve got your Einstein face on again. What is it?”

“Picture Bucky as a puzzle. A completed puzzle with all the pieces in place, and each piece is a moment in his life. Like, for example, one piece can be him hanging out with Steve when they were younger and another is him completing a mission for Hydra.”

Sam nodded. “So far, I’m following.”

“Bucky can only see a few pieces of that puzzle and I know just a bit more. First, I need to make him see the whole puzzle and in order to do that I need to know the puzzle, but after that… he’ll still have all the bad pieces. So, I need to add more good pieces!” She exclaimed before running off.

“Okay, I lost you!” Sam announced.

She ran back and grabbed his hand. “Come on!”


	5. Late Night Coffee Talks

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Spoilers for H.P. Lovecraft's "The Colour out of Space" which can be read online here for free: http://www.hplovecraft.com/writings/texts/fiction/cs.aspx
> 
> Flowers for Algernon can be read online here for free: http://www.sdfo.org/gj/stories/flowersforalgernon.pdf
> 
> The playlist to watch Flowers for Algernon free online: https://www.youtube.com/playlist?list=PLPiva6H6BJbIRZYX_tGB3kkrhh0qO3LkE
> 
> If any of the links don't work let me know and I'll try to update them or remove them.

Kat shed silent tears as she flipped through the Hydra files at three am. She didn’t think it was possible for such horrid things to be one to a human being and have that human being live to tell the tale, yet there they were.

Subconsciously, she reached out and took Bucky’s hand if only to provide his some human comfort. He had been so isolated and alone for so long she felt it was only right.

The door softly opened and she dropped her hand, not knowing who was on the other side as they were concealed in darkness.

The figure stepped closer and she saw Steve with two cups of coffee. “After you asked Tony for the files I figured you might still be up. Coffee?”

She smiled and sipped the coffee gratefully. “This is two creams no sugar. This is exactly how I like my coffee, how did you know this?”

“I’m a psychic,” he winked. “Nah, I’m just kidding. I asked Sam, he left around midnight.”

She nodded distractedly, watching Bucky in sadness.

“So you finished them, huh?” Steve implored, noting the way she looked at Bucky.

“Yeah,” she breathed.

“What did you think?”

“I think I’m conflicted between screaming, crying, and punching something,” she admitted.

He chuckled, nodding in understanding. “After I read it I broke six punching bags.”

“And I thought I cried reading  _ Flowers for Algernon _ ,” she sighed. “How could a human being do this to another human? It’s sick, it’s twisted, it’s downright fucked up. I knew Hydra was bad but- Jesus.”

“I know,” Steve muttered, staring into his coffee cup. “ _ Flowers for Algernon _ ?” He questioned.

“Yeah,” she nodded, then remembered the story came out in the fifties. “Shit-uh it came out in the fifties. Sorry.”

He shrugged. “It’s fine. I’m still making it through my list. Should I add it?”

“Yes and no,” she decided. “I mean it’s a total tearjerker but the story itself is wonderful. It’s about this man who is in his late thirties and not really mentally developed. He has difficulty with spelling, grammar, and language in general and he takes part in this experiment that is supposed to make him smarter. Algernon is the name of the mouse they try the experiment on before him.”

He nodded. “Sounds good, I’ll add it to the list.”

She smiled. “The movie isn’t worth adding in my opinion. It’s nice and all but they focus more on the relationship than the actual development of Charlie, the main character, it still made me cry but,” she shrugged. “Not worth it.”

He smirked. “Well, thanks for the recommendation.”

She grinned. “Not a problem. Now, I was actually meaning to ask you something. Do you think you could tell me anything you know about Bucky? I mean I know the general information, but what were his favorite songs? What did he like to do?”

“Oh,” Steve sighed, leaning back in his chair. “He was the stud of the town. Had girls left and right lining up at his door. It used to intimidate the hell out of me because Bucky was like this bigger brother to me and looking up to that was overwhelming, to say the least.”

She giggled. “Did he have anybody special waiting for him when he came home?” She glanced over at Bucky, raising an eyebrow. He spent most of his time shirtless and quite frankly she could see why all the girls in Brooklyn were chasing after him. He was gorgeous, but she knew he had the brains and charm to keep the girls there.

“No,” Steve shook his head. “All those girls and he never found the one.”

Kat caught herself staring at him longer than a doctor should stare at her patient and automatically turned back to Steve. “What about personal interests? He couldn’t have just loved girls, though I do know some guys like that…,” she trailed off.

“He liked music. Sinatra mostly.”

Kat’s jaw dropped. “He likes Sinatra?!”

“Yeah,” Steve raised an eyebrow. “Why?”

“I was raised on Sinatra! I fucking love him!” She exclaimed only to be met with a low groan from Bucky. “Sorry” she whispered, her cheeks pinkening. “But anyway, I loved him with Tommy Dorsey Orchestra. I literally used to hum  _ Blue Skies  _ around the house when I was like seven.”

He chuckled. “We saw them live.”

Her jaw dropped. “You’re kidding.”

He shook his head. “It was a fun night. I didn’t really like Sinatra but Tommy Dorsey’s Orchestra made up for it.”

She rolled her hands and held up a hand to Steve’s face. “I can’t- I can’t handle this right now. You didn’t like the guy who’s music  _ shaped my childhood _ ?”

He shrugged nonchalantly. “I was more into Glenn Miller.”

“Oh, you’ve got to be kidding me.  _ Moonlight Serenade _ ? Really? I mean sure it’s good for a dance,  _ maybe _ , but honestly?”

“You sound exactly like Bucky,” he stated firmly and she grinned.

Internally, she was screaming but she remembered what Sam said about keeping her cool and tried to breathe. 

Then, a thought popped into her head. “What about Tommy Dorsey with Buddy Rich? Did you guys go see them? 1942? Hawaiian War Chant?”

“Yeah, yeah, I think I remember that. Buddy Rich wasn’t bad.”

“You’re killing me, Steve. Buddy Rich is a great fucking drummer. Like that man made me see drumming as more than just banging sticks everywhere”

“Bucky said he liked Buddy too.”

“Thank God, I’m not in a room with two idiots and instead just one.”

He laughed. “Gee, thanks.”

She giggled. “Was there anything else? Books or movies maybe?”

“Yeah, he mentioned one guy uh-Lovelock?”

“Lovecraft,” she corrected. “Though James Lovelock is a real man and a brilliant scientist, I feel like Lovecraft would be more likely.”

“That does sound more familiar,” Steve admitted. 

“I only own one story from H.P. Lovecraft.  _ Colour out of Space.  _ Most of his stories give me the creeps,” she shivered. She didn’t mention Lovecraft was blatantly sexist and racist at times making her furious with the story itself.

“How do you know all of this?” Steve wondered.

She smiled sheepishly, dissolving into her seat in a bit of embarrassment. “I’m a bit of a history fanatic, and beyond that, I just like learning about the world. My mom used to call me this big sponge just absorbing everything around me.” She glanced down at her coffee cup sadly.

“I take it that’s past tense,” Steve presumed by the way her body slumped at the mention of her mother.

She nodded numbly. “Car crash made me an orphan.” She took a deep breath. “It’s alright though because I got to spend so much time with them. I used to be sad all the time wanting more and more time with them, but thinking on it now I got more time than most people could even wish for. So, while it sucks, I’m grateful. I grew up with them. Not a lot of people can say that about their parents.”

He smiled. “That’s really nice of you.”

She smirked. “Yeah, I like to think so.”

Bucky began to mumble something in Russian in his sleep and she darted over to his side. She felt his forehead to make sure he wasn’t burning up in his sleep before slowly comforting him. She spoke to him in Russian, slowly lulling him to sleep again.

“Why did you do it?” Steve wondered.

“Do what?” She chuckled. “Speak in Russian? He just seemed more comfortable with-”

“No, I mean why did you become a doctor? Were your parent's doctors?”

“My mom was a surgeon and my dad was a scientist, but they’re not why I did it. I guess I wanted to feel like I was bringing some good to the world. Life kinda chews you up and spits you out and leaves you with all this leftover damage. I helped myself heal from it, I feel like I should help other people who might not be able to do the same.”

“I like you, Kat Hastings.”

“I’d say I like you too but within the span of an hour you insulted two musicians I hold very near and dear to my heart,” she replied coolly as she sipped her coffee.

“Oh, he chuckled. “Is that how it’s going to be?”

She laughed. 

“Well, kid, I have some choice words for-,” he began.

“Shut up,” Bucky mumbled.

Kat nodded to the door and her and Steve headed out, closing the door softly behind him. 

“I feel kind of bad,” Kat confessed. “This is probably the first restful sleep he’s had in awhile and there we were talking noisily throughout it.” She sighed. “Tell you what? Can you hand me a list of all the musicians, and movies and whatever you remember Bucky liked sometime after breakfast? I’m gonna head to bed.”

Steve nodded but seemed confused. “You just had a cup of coffee.”

“Psh, that’s nothing. I’ve had coffee for so long, one cup will barely make me feel a buzz.”

He chuckled. “Okay then. Night.”

“Night.”

She headed back inside and yawned, rubbing her eyes with her fist, much like a child before taking off her sweater and Converses. She grabbed her duffle bag and headed into the bathroom to change into some pajamas. 

She debated whether or not she should keep her father’s dog tags on. Usually, she hardly ever took them off but considering who she was sleeping next to it would probably be best if she didn’t give him an easier way to choke her.

She sighed as she took them off and kissed them before heading back into the bedroom where Bucky was seemingly asleep. She giggled as his sleeping frame.  _ That is so fake.  _ She used to fake sleep all the time at family reunions as a kid so nobody talked to her, she knew fake sleep and Bucky was most likely watching her.

She rolled her eyes. The action was so middle school boy and yet she found herself smiling as she crawled into the cot the Avengers had laid out for her.

“Good night, Bucky,” she muttered and she heard him shifting around in surprise for a few moments before eventually relaxing.

“Good night.”

~~~

The next morning she awoke to find Bucky by her cot fingering her dad’s dog tags.

For a moment, she worried that she would be in serious trouble for not putting his restraints on before he went to bed but she quickly dismissed the matter. He hadn’t caused any trouble so it shouldn’t be a problem.

When he noticed she was awake and watching him, he quickly put the dog tags back where he found them like a kid caught with his candy in the cookie jar.

“No, it’s okay. You can look at them. It’s not like they’re mine,” she shrugged and he slowly picked up the tags once more, staring at her the whole time as if she were going to yell at him and smack his hand for doing something she said he could do.

“I used to have these,” he muttered. “They took them. I don’t know why.”

She watched the way he held the dog tags, clutching them so tightly she worried they may cut his hand open. His other hand, the one that wasn’t holding the dog tags, was shaking violently.

“You can keep them,” she offered and his head whipped to meet her eyes in surprise. It seemed he couldn’t quite comprehend the kindness she was showing him. “They’re my dad’s but, he’d want you to have them.” She nodded to him and he showed a ghost of a smile.

“Thank you.”

“No problem.” She sighed as she got up from the bed and Bucky automatically averted his eyes when he saw her short pajama shorts. She chuckled. Forties guys. “I’m gonna go take a shower then get some breakfast.” She thought about the other night when he seemed annoyed with having to make a decision for food. 

It was possible that instead of giving him the newly found right to decide, she should take this in baby steps.

“Would you like eggs or pancakes?” She said and he looked up at her in surprise again.

“Uh, um I don’t really remember pancakes.”

She smiled. “Perfect. I can make the Hastings special. Be back in a jiffy.”

~~~

When she got out of the shower and headed to the kitchen, she saw Steve and Sam already awake. Steve was making something that she could already smell burning and Sam appeared as though he’d rather be eating anything else.

She chuckled and hopped over towards them. 

“Hello, boys,” she said as she pulled out two plates. 

“Hey, how is he?” Steve asked. She decided to be completely honest with Steve. After all, if it was her in his shoes she would’ve wanted to hear the same, no matter how bad it was.

“It’s on and off. This morning he was kind of shaky and I’m worried he was awake early because he had a nightmare but other than that not terrible.”

Steve nodded and she pulled out all the ingredients for Hastings special pancakes. 

Just like dad used to make every Sunday.

Given it was a little bit more difficult because she didn’t have the chance to prepare the batter the night before, but she would make do.

“Hold on,” Sam froze. “Are you making the Hastings special?” 

“Yep,” she announced as she swung around and grabbed the cinnamon.

“ _ Just a dash of cinnamon, Kathy. More and your mother will toss the pancakes in the trash before you can even ask her if she liked it,” he whispered in the eleven-year old's ear. _

_ “Untrue!” Her mother protested. “You better watch out for your father, Kathy. He’s a liar, and you know what we say about liars.” _

_ “They deserve to go down the stinky toilet!” She exclaimed proudly with her mother. _

_ “Hey! I didn’t say a word!” He protested. _

_ “He’s a two-time liar!” Kathy announced.  _

_ Her mother placed her hands on her hips. “Oh, those get the toilet with barf in it.” _

_ “Ew!” The little girl giggled as her father groaned. _

“Can I have some pancakes?” Sam asked desperately.

She grinned. “It depends. Did you get the stuff I asked for?”

He held up a green duffle bag. “It’s all right here. And quite frankly you own way too many crop tops and tights.”

She snatched the bag out of his hands and rolled her eyes. “Show me where I asked for your opinion. Did you let Rufus out and feed him?”

He nodded. “Oh and your grandma called. She says that she met another guy at the nursing home and she swears this time he’s the love of her life. Dr. Cartel called again, she said you haven’t been coming to your sessions.”

“I asked you to let my dog out and grab my stuff not go through my personal calls. Though I don’t really mind about Mama, she gets a new boyfriend at the nursing home every other week.”

“Good, cause Dr. Cartel called me.”

“You have a doctor?” Steve frowned.

“Yeah,” she sighed, raking her fingers through her still wet hair. “It’s a long story and he made me get her,” she jabbed her finger at Sam who raised his hands in defense.

“Don’t blame me! You needed her!” He insisted.

She rolled her eyes. “Tell her I’ll see her this Saturday if it means you both stop bugging the living daylights out of me.”

He chuckled. “Deal.”

She pushed a pancake onto his plate beside the burnt toast. “Remember not too much syrup or else it tastes funny.”

“I’ve been coming to your house for pancakes since I was fourteen. I remember.”

She smirked.

“Hey, can I have some?” Steve asked.

She grinned. “I thought you might say that.” She pushed a pancake onto his plate. “Don’t put too much syrup or it’ll be too sweet and you’ll lose half the flavor. I also made enough for the rest of the team in case Steve’s  _ wonderful  _ cooking doesn’t woo them. Be a dear and tell the others for me. I’m gonna make some coffee and bring it to Bucky.”

She did exactly that and struggled immensely opening the door with two plates, two coffee mugs and cream and sugar.

She stood back and huffed at the door, working out how she could approach it. She bit her lip and tapped her foot when she had a lightbulb moment. 

She was a waitress one summer when she was sixteen before she got fired for dropping food on customers all the time. She could handle this. 

She really hoped she didn’t spill the food on Bucky.

Kat took a deep breath and readjusted everything before heading inside. 

Bucky watched her with wide eyes as she placed his plate and black coffee in front of him and placed her plate and coffee beside her bed.

She handed him the cream and sugar and sighed. “Don’t put too much syrup on it.”

“Thank you.” He said awkwardly, staring down at the pancakes as if it were the greatest gift anyone had ever given him.

Kat grinned. “No problem.”

She started eating, and he stared at her in surprise.

“What?” She asked.

“Why are you eating with me?”

“Do you want me to go eat with the others? Because I will if you feel uncomfortable,” she offered.

He looked down at the dog tags. “Yes,” he whispered.

She smiled and hopped up before quickly sitting down. “Oh, I should not have done that,” she moaned, holding her tummy.

Bucky glanced over at her and couldn’t help but smile slightly at her face. She looked like an upset young child. It was adorable.

“Give me a minute. Note to self, never stand up quickly while swallowing,” she sighed before getting up slowly. “Okay, I’ll be back later for our session. If you don’t want to talk my friend brought over  _ Colour out of Space  _ by H.P. Lovecraft and we can read it if you’d like.”

He nodded and she walked out without another word.

~~~

She heard the laughter echoing from the kitchen down the hall and smiled as she walked over to the Avengers. 

“What’s so funny?” She asked.

“Did you hear about Sam getting attacked by a guy the size of a tic tac here?” A red-haired woman she presumed was the famed Natasha Romanov or Black Widow asked.

“Oh, yeah,” she giggled. “And the tic tac won.”

There was another burst of laughter and she grinned. 

“What are you doing here? Weren’t you supposed to be with Bucky?” Steve grew concerned and it showed on his face. Like that overprotective parent who worries every time they don’t know where you are for five seconds. 

“Relax, he’s okay. It’s no big deal.”

“Then why aren’t you with him?”

She rolled her eyes and smiled at the Avengers. “Is he always like this?”

“Almost always,” Natasha nodded. “We have to remind ourselves that he’s the grandpa here.”

She giggled and turned back to Steve. “I don’t know how much he wants me to tell you, but he’s not exactly comfortable with eating around some girl he hardly knows which is perfectly understandable. I’m going back in when I’m done eating.”

He nodded before taking a deep breath and resuming eating.

~~~

“It was then that I heard the story, and as the rambling voice scraped and whispered on I shivered again and again despite the summer day. Often I had to recall the speaker from ramblings, piece out scientific points which he knew only by a fading parrot memory of professors’ talk, or bridge over gaps where his sense of logic and continuity broke down. When he was done I did not wonder that his mind had snapped a trifle, or that the folk of Arkham would not speak much of the blasted heath. I hurried back before sunset to my hotel, unwilling to have the stars come out above me in the open; and the next day returned to Boston to give up my position. I could not go into that dim chaos of old forest and slope again, or face another time that grey blasted heath where the black well yawned deep beside the tumbled bricks and stones. The reservoir will soon be built now, and all those elder secrets will be safe forever under watery fathoms. But even then I do not believe I would like to visit that country by night—at least, not when the sinister stars are out; and nothing could bribe me to drink the new city water of Arkham,” Kat read.

“It all began with the meteorite,” Bucky whispered.

Kat looked at him momentarily before offering him the book. “Do you wanna read it?”

He shook his head. “No, I like hearing you read it. You have a voice.”

“Well, this is the first time you’ve heard me speaking for a while,” she giggled. “Are you sure you don’t want to read?”

“No.”

“Okay,” she sighed. “Where did I leave off?”

“Ammi had just told him the story.”

“Oh!” She watched him cautiously. “Do you remember how it ends?”

“The family dies,” he said coldly.

“Is that all you remember?” She implored.

“That’s where I stopped reading.”

“Why? Just because the family died?”

He nodded. “It didn’t seem like a fair ending, so I stopped reading. I knew it was going to happen all along so I didn’t see a point.”

“Ah, Bucky Barnes just like you I don’t believe this story has a sad ending,” she flipped to the end of the story and Bucky just simply sat there and stared at her.

Clearly, she did not know anything about him if she thought he had a chance at a happy ending. 

“It was just a colour out of space—a frightful messenger from unformed realms of infinity beyond all Nature as we know it; from realms whose mere existence stuns the brain and numbs us with the black extra-cosmic gulfs, it throws open before our frenzied eyes.

I doubt very much if Ammi consciously lied to me, and I do not think his tale was all a freak of madness as the townfolk had forewarned. Something terrible came to the hills and valleys on that meteor, and something terrible—though I know not in what proportion—still remains. I shall be glad to see the water come. Meanwhile I hope nothing will happen to Ammi. He saw so much of the thing—and its influence was so insidious. Why has he never been able to move away? How clearly he recalled those dying words of Nahum’s—“can’t git away . . . draws ye . . . ye know summ’at’s comin’, but ’tain’t no use. . . .” Ammi is such a good old man—when the reservoir gang gets to work I must write the chief engineer to keep a sharp watch on him. I would hate to think of him as the grey, twisted, brittle monstrosity which persists more and more in troubling my sleep.”

“That wasn’t much better,” Bucky grumbled.

“No, but it didn’t end in death.”

“Every story ends in death.”

“No, no I can’t agree with that. If that was the case then there would be a lot less hope in the world than there is.”

“Hope? Hope is just a fantasy for people who refuse to see how much life can take,” Bucky spat. He was angry. Really angry. He had no hope. If hope was real he would have been rescued from that Hydra base ages ago and had been able to live a nice quiet life. Instead, he had been forced to endure a living nightmare.

“No, Bucky, hope is for people who refuse to believe that this is all there is. That it’s not just death and destruction. I think every story ends in another story. We’re all just stories, in the end, being told to grandchildren or friends kids or to the world. We live through stories, just like Nahum and his family are still alive through this story. They’re alive in our memories and imaginations.”

Bucky eyed her cautiously. “Why are you doing this?”

“Doing what?”

“Treating me like a person. I’m a thing. I’ve done things that would keep you up at night in fear of me.”

“I’ve read what happened, Bucky. All of it.”

His eyes widened and he looked at her in shock. “Then why are you being nice to me? I don’t deserve kindness.”

“Again I’m gonna have to disagree with you. I think after all this time you of all people deserve all the kindness I can give you.”

“Why?” He asked again. After he had done all of that why should he be treated with kindness?

“Because it’s what good people do.”

He smiled slightly at that before he grew angry and distant again.

“How about I pull out a new book?  _ Flowers for Algernon _ ?” She offered. “It’s one of my favorites.”

He stared at her as if he couldn’t quite understand her. Like she was a puzzle that he was visually trying to put together and not quite getting it “What’s it about?”

“It’s about this guy named Charlie Gordon. Charlie is a 32-year-old developmentally disabled man who has the opportunity to undergo a surgical procedure that will dramatically increase his mental capabilities,” she read the summary.

He thought for a while before sighing deeply and nodding. “Okay.”


	6. Can't Turn Back Now

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Almost every elderly person listed (except Kat's grandma herself) is based off a real person that is over 100 and gives great advice, a video with all of them can be found here: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=9AThycGCakk Seriously they're great people.

“I think it went well,” Kat said to Sam as they crossed the street, only to nearly get hit by a cab.

“Get out of the street!” The man hollered.

“Oh, go back home and masturbate! We all know it’s what you really want to spend the day doing!” Sam shouted as Kat laughed. 

“Damn!”

“This is why I left New York,” he grumbled.

“Oh, please. You left right after your tours as if New York wasn’t American enough for you and you had to be right by the President to feel like you did some service to the country.”

“God, how I missed our little talks,” he said sarcastically. “So you think he’s getting better?”

“Well, I wouldn’t go that far, but he’s talking to me and I think he’s starting to understand that I’m not out to get him which is definite improvement.”

Sam nodded. “That’s something. Better than him staring at you for hours saying absolutely nothing. Has he snapped at you?”

“He’s really just spoken angrily. I don’t think he understands my purpose, so he’s just really confused.”

“It could be worse. He could be cursing at you or threatening you.”

“Oh, I don’t think he’s past that. He just had a good day. It’s always; confusion, then anger, then a bit of confusion as his mind works out where he is, then acceptance. At least that’s how it was with my dad.”

Sam nodded and sighed as he looked up at the sign that read: Waterford on the Bay Senior Living. “Do I really have to come with you? Last time I was here all the over eighties poked and prodded at me, giggling about how I was in the Army.”

She giggled and wrapped her arm around her best friend. “You should be excited to come here then. You might find yourself a girlfriend. The one group of people that would be a step up from me,” she laughed. “Come on. Mama is waiting.”

~~~

This was Kat’s element. Making friends with people her own age was difficult but making friends with people three times her age was surprisingly easy.

“Hello, Kathy!” An elderly man named Cliff called. 

“Hi, Cliff!” She waved happily. “Still taking a spot of whiskey each day?”

He chuckled. “It’s not on the national health.”

“A hundred and one? It never will be, but whatever helps.” 

“Oh, hello, darling,” a Czechoslovakian elderly woman muttered, reaching out a hand to hold Kat’s hand. 

“Hi, Emilia, how are you?”

“Oh, I’m doing very well. I see you’ve brought young Samuel here, are you two still together?”

Kat laughed. “Oh, no, but don’t you worry. He was very good to me. I broke it off for personal reasons.”

“It’s a shame. You two would have made a lovely bride and groom. Is there anyone new in your life?” Emilia asked hopefully.

Instantly Bucky popped into Kat’s mind. “Um, no one at the moment. But I’ll be sure to keep you updated on my love life. I promise.”

“Oh, good.”

They walked past the room with one of her favorite guys to talk about music to. An elderly man named John.

He was listening to the Schenectady New York on his old radio with the jazz bands.

She leaned in really quickly. 

“Psst, John! Hate to interrupt but I just really quickly wanted to tell you that I found someone who likes Sinatra  _ and  _ Buddy Rich! And before you ask, no it’s not this one,” she said, jabbing a finger at Sam. “He wouldn’t know the difference between Sarah Vaughan and Doris Day if it smacked him upside the head.”

John laughed and Sam stared at her in confusion as she darted to her grandma’s room. “Hold on, was that an insult?!”

“Mama!” She exclaimed as she swung around into the room.

“Kitty Kat!” Her grandmother cried and held out her arms. Kat ran to her grandmother

“Oh, you brought Sam as well,” Kat’s grandmother Dorothy muttered.

“Right, I’m gonna wait in the hall,” he said.  
“Wait- Mama!” She scolded.

“What? Are you still dating him?” Dorothy looked concerned that she had just offended her granddaughter’s boyfriend.

Kat rolled her eyes. “God, no,” she sighed, sitting down beside her grandma. “There is one other man though, but being with him is kind of impossible.”

“Oh, darling please don’t tell me you’re crushing on that Bucky boy again. How many times must I say this? He has passed on.”

“That’s the thing though. Remember on the news when they said they found the frozen body of Captain America? The war hero?”

“Of course I do, dear! I’m old not senile!”

Kat smiled. “Well, sort of the same thing happened to him and he was recently found.”

“Well, what are you waiting for? Go after him before I do!” Dorothy insisted.

Kat laughed. “That’s the problem. He kinda has a memory problem and is hostile.”

Dorothy’s gaze turned cold. “Don’t do it Kitty Kat. I know you’ve loved him since you were, what? Seven? But if he hurts you he will just be another Robert.”

She sighed and placed her head on the bed. “I’m his doctor.”

“Well, treat him and leave it at that.”

“How can I? He’s so beautiful, Mama, and there was this moment today when I was reading to him and I just felt like there was something there.”

Dorothy watched her grandchild carefully. She saw in her eyes that she cared about this man. She had loved him all her life after all. The old woman just worried that this man might not feel the same, or worse, he might hurt her beautiful granddaughter. She knew if she said no her little Kitty Kat would not try anything with this man. She would stop picturing a future all together because she valued her grandmother’s opinion dearly, but Dorothy couldn’t just look into those eyes so filled with love and say no.

“If you feel there is a slight chance there could be a future with this man then you try, but if he hurts you or you start to doubt he doesn’t feel the same, I want you to stop and save yourself and your heart above all else.”

Kat smiled at her grandmother. “Thank you, Mama,” she stood up and kissed the old woman on the cheek. “Now what’s this I hear about a new boyfriend.”

~~~

Bucky was going restless. Where did she go? The woman with the soft voice and the kind eyes. 

She treated him differently despite knowing what he was. She wasn’t like the others and Bucky wasn’t sure if that was just a sign of stupidity or weakness.

Regardless, he found her presence was somewhat calming. She seemed to understand a deeper part of him. A part that he himself could barely remember.

He found that he needed her.

The other night when she slept in the room with him, he didn’t have dreams about Hydra, instead he had a dream about going to see a band play with Steve.

A happy memory.

Before her, he didn’t know he had any of those left. Up until she arrived all his memories had violence, torture, and war in them. He didn’t think wholesome things existed in the world let alone in his head.

When she was gone and he was alone in the room, the bad things often rose to the surface. Things he didn’t like remembering.

_ The electricity burned through his veins like fire. “You do not disobey, Soldier. You do not fight back. You have one purpose and that is to serve Hydra, understand?!” The voice barked, but Bucky had no idea who it was. _

_ His eyes were squeezed shut in pain as the man increased the volts running through his body.  _

_ “Understand?!” _

_ “Yes!” He cried. _

_ The man smiled. “Good, now we wipe you.” _

_ He screamed as new technology slowly shifted towards his head before clenching his skull roughly. _

_ He didn’t want to forget. _

_ Not again. _

The door opened with a soft click and Kat walked in with a coffee from some place called Starbucks, and a small bag with the same label as the cup.

“Chto, chert voz'mi, ty zdes' delayesh'?!” Bucky spat.

She took a deep breath. “Nice to see you too, Bucky.”

Bucky glared at her. He wanted to kill her. To just end it all. It would be so easy. He could wrap his fingers around her throat and-

“I brought you a bagel,” she said, holding up the bag.

“What?” Bucky faltered.

“Well, I wanted to bring you food from my favorite restaurant, but Sam said we were running late so I decided to get you a bagel. Here,” she gave him the bag and he peered inside.

“Why?”

“Why was I running late? Well, my grandma wouldn’t stop chatting about how she was dating Cliff and honest to God I love the woman but she can talk your ear off when she’s in a good mood.”

“No. Why did you get me a bagel?”

“Because I figured you’d want to try some food outside of me and whatever else they try to cook up for you. You know something a bit different. Everyone else here can eat different food so you should be able to as well.”

“Why would you care about that?”

She smiled. “Again, Bucky, it’s what good people do.”

He never understood that.  _ What are good people?  _ It had been so long since he had even experienced the concept of a good person let alone talked to a good person.

“Are you a good person?” He asked.

She chuckled. “Uh, big question,” she breathed.  _ Was it a big question?  _ Bucky honestly didn’t know. “I don’t think I’m an entirely good person, but I try to be and I think that’s what matters. Just like you Bucky, you don’t have to think you’re a good person to be one.”

“YA ne prosil urok zhizni, ya prosto zadal vopros,” he muttered.

She sighed. “Okay, then. What do you want to talk about?”

“Where were you?”

“What?” She frowned. 

“Well, you sleep here so I assume you don’t have friends or a boyfriend that would miss you if you weren’t home,” he stated bluntly.

“Oh!” She scoffed.

“But you go out occasionally. Where could you go if you don’t have a social life outside of this?”

“I’ll have you know I have a thriving social life!” She exclaimed and he raised an eyebrow. “Okay, they’re all over eighty, but regardless I have friends.”

Bucky was surprised at the over eighty part. He figured she might have no more than three friends and try to fight him with that, but he hadn’t figured that she would be friends with people around his age.

“And that’s where you go?”

“Sometimes. I’ll also go home to make sure Sam isn’t killing my dog.”

Bucky was silent for a moment. “I like dogs,” he muttered.

She smiled. “I do too, that’s why I have one.” He looked down at his lap, fiddling with her dad’s dog tags just as he used to fiddle with his own tags when he couldn’t sleep at night. “Tell you what, I’ll see if I can bring my dog here. He loves new people. Usually more than me,” she mumbled distractedly.

He instantly brightened at the idea of a dog being in the room. “You would do that for me?”

“Of course! That and I kind of miss my dog being here. I know I have no social life. You don’t need to say it. However, you have to promise me something. If I bring my dog will you try to not threaten me in Russian, or any language for that matter. I can handle the cursing but hearing that you want to choke the life out of me is not exactly heartwarming.”

He glanced down at his lap in guilt. “I’ll try.” If he was honest, he never realized what he was saying in Russian until it was already said. Like the Soldier took over momentarily and said whatever he wanted before leaving Bucky to deal with the mess.

“Okay, I’m gonna go ask Tony,” she hopped up. “Back in a jiffy!”

He smiled, though he hated her enthusiasm with such mundane tasks but the way she said jiffy was adorable.

~~~

“Tony!” She cried, swinging around into the room to find Tony speaking to a woman with long brown hair.

Kat had the tiny crush on the girl just looking at how beautiful she was standing there. 

“Uh, hi, I’m Kat,” she introduced holding out a hand which the girl nervously stared at before slowly taking it. “I take it you’re Wanda Maximoff.”

“You’ve heard of me?” The girl said sheepishly, using her sleeves to cover up her hands. Kat eyed the action warily.

“Yeah, uh, Sam talked about you. He thought that you were incredible. Really just amazing,” she lied. She had seen the new member of the Avengers on the news. She figured it would help the girl feel less self conscious.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” she muttered.

The girl smiled. 

“Hey, listen Wanda, go see Steve like I said okay?” Tony requested and Wanda nodded, walking past Kat.

“Nice meeting you” Kat smiled and waved.

Wanda simply smilped in response and waved as well.

“So, what do you need kiddo?”

“Kiddo? “ Kat raised an eyebrow and shook her head, remembering that she wasn’t there to question Tony’s odd diction. “I wanted to know if I could bring my dog here? They’ve been known to help in therapy so it could be considered work.”

“Of course, just don’t let anyone get a hold of it,” he chuckled.

“Thanks.”


	7. I'm Trying Not To Think About You

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Chapter in honor of the release of my favorite girl's new music video "Bad Liar". Check it out here the song gets stuck in your head if you listen to it more than once: https://www.youtube.com/watch?v=NZKXkD6EgBk
> 
> The term "mind-rapist" is a phrase that was commonly used by me and my friends when talking about our therapists. It meant they delved unwillingly into our minds because our parents paid them to (we didn't consent to it) they got what they wanted and left us with the damage. It is used briefly in this chapter, but if it does offend/bother anyone it will be removed. (It is stated twice.)
> 
> T/W: Mentions and graphic depictions of rape non/con. Mentions of death, and depression due to said death and infertility.

Bucky spent the rest of the day listening to Kat read  _ Flowers for Algernon _ to him. She had offered to let him read it on his own but he saw by the way she clutched the book that she didn’t want to let it out of her grasp. Besides, he liked listening to her read. She had a certain elegance in her voice that he knew wouldn’t be able to even get close to while reading in his head.

He watched her as she read, the way her eyes danced happily across the page and the way her hands almost shoved the next page over, anxiously awaiting the next piece of the story. He thought she and her love for books were both beautiful.

“This is your favorite book?” He clarified.

She nodded much like a small child. “I absolutely love it.”

“Why?” He tilted his head curiously.

She took a deep breath and he smiled for a fraction of a second, bracing himself for a long explanation.

“I discovered it when I was little and I just immediately connected to Charlie. He just has this innocence and honesty about him that I love and the way the author talks about other people. It’s so real and honest. He doesn’t have one of his characters entirely innocent. I mean even Algernon bites Charlie. He makes it so realistic but the characters so lovable that I can’t help but read and reread this story.”

“Can you leave it tonight?” He requested. He wanted to experience something she loved so much on his own.

She looked hesitant as she gripped the book tighter. Eventually, she sighed and nodded. 

“If it’s just for one night, sure. I’ll try to bring more books tomorrow, okay? Until then, do you want to talk?”

He clung to the dog tags nervously. “I remembered more about what they made me do to him.”

“To who? If you don’t mind me asking.”

“Steve.”

She inhaled sharply and sat up straighter in her seat. “Do you wanna let it out? Sometimes it helps,” she offered.

He took a deep breath. He didn’t like thinking about it. He didn’t like remembering.

“Bucky, whatever you’re feeling you can trust me with. I swear that I won’t hurt you and if you want I can promise that it will be just between us. I’m here to help you.”

“Why don’t you give up?” He wondered.  
“Give up on trying to help you?”

He nodded.

“Would you believe me if I said I don’t believe in hopeless cases? I believe everyone has the opportunity to be happy and not hurt others. Now if they realize it or not is another question.”

“What about bad people?” He asked, fiddling with his dog tags.

“They either don’t realize they don’t have to hurt other people, which is more common than you think or they are deliberately trying to be bad. Like a teenager deliberately trying to disobey their parents. They willfully ignore the other option.”

“And you think all people are like this?”

She nodded firmly. 

“What if you’re wrong?”

“Well, then I’m wrong but like I said I don’t think anyone is all bad. We all have the chance to lead a life which doesn’t harm others.”

He thought on her words. Maybe, she was right. Maybe, he wasn’t all bad

She smiled. “Tell you what, if you want, tomorrow we can talk about dreams. If not I’ll bring some Frank Sinatra and we can listen to that. Oh, and you’ll be able to meet Rufus, my dog, so that’s fun!” She rambled and he smirked. 

“You like Frank Sinatra?”

“Yeah, I used to listen to him with my dad. On Saturday’s we would play  _ Saturday Night Is The Loneliest Night of The Week _ . Corny I know.”

“I think-,” he hesitated and she raised an eyebrow. “Never mind,” he shook his head.

“Okay, that’s fine. Let’s just keep reading, yeah? Unless you’re ready to talk?”

He shook his head while a part of him screamed out the opposite. He wanted to get this shit out of his mind but he still worried that if he expressed this from his point of view she would run and hide from him like he was some monster from a horror film. His mind was at war about what he should tell her. He trusted her, he just didn’t know if he could be so sure that she wouldn’t think he’s some sort of sick psychopath.

She smiled. “That’s okay.”

~~~

“Shoot me in the fucking face!” Kat cried.

“What’s going on now?” Sam said, leaning against her doorframe.

She chewed her lip desperately with two sets of books in her hands. “What books would he like?”

Sam chuckled. “I don’t know. You’d have to ask Steve that kind of stuff. Why do you care what he thinks of it?”

“I have  _ To Kill A Mockingbird  _ which he might not like but then again he likes Lovecraft so maybe,” she continued, ignoring him. “ _ Rosemary’s Baby  _ is definitely a no. When the hell did I even get this? Oh my God,  _ In Cold Blood  _ is golden! Maybe, I should stay away from murder though. Well, that cuts down my collection by a lot. Maybe, I should just stick with  _ Charlie and the Chocolate Factory. Where the Wild Things Are  _ too. I like that one.” She sat up with a sigh. “Oh, hey Sam.”

He rolled his eyes and picked up the dog cage. “Are you ready?”

She was about to nod when her eyes widened. “Wait, the Sinatra!” She shouted, bolting back to her room.

~~~

“I feel bad having Rufus in a cage. He looks so sad. He’s hardly ever in his cage at home.”

“Yeah, well last time he was in my car he crapped on half the seats. He can stay in the cage.”

She rolled her eyes. “If we were cops you would be the bad one.”

“I had to clean that shit up for a week!”

“Just Google how to get out dog poop. Jeez, Sam.”

“Yeah, okay, the girl who lives in the mid-1900’s is gonna tell me to use Google. You don’t even own a computer!”

She grinned. “Don’t feel the need for one.”

He rolled his eyes. “Are you gonna tell me what that was about back there?”

“What?” She asked softly. He looked over and saw she was staring out the window seemingly happy with everything she saw.

“You spent a good five minutes trying to make sure you had the perfect book for him. And now you’re tracing shit on my window.”

She frowned. “Is that?” She seemed to lean out of her seat as though she were watching a movie with a really good cliffhanger. Then, she leaned back, disappointed. “No, it’s not.”

“Oh my God, you’re in love with him,” Sam almost laughed.

“Shut up.”

“Sweet little Katty is in love with the soldier,” he hummed. “What is it you have with soldiers? Is it a fetish?”

“Oh, God this is like my first boyfriend all over again,” she moaned. 

“I’m never letting this go. I knew you had a crush on him because you thought he was hot. But you actually love him. Why-?”

“He’s sweet to me okay?! He’s funny and yes he made fun of my social life but I do that all the time, and I dunno he has all the same interests as me. I never thought he would if I’m honest.”

He laughed. “I’ll keep your secret. I always do.”

“Thank you.”

~~~

Bucky actually missed her. That was new. He missed her contagious laughter. He missed the way she read to him. He missed the way she looked at him like he wasn’t a monster.

He had another nightmare last night. He had decided today was the day he was finally going to tell her. 

He just hoped he wasn’t making a mistake.

He heard the door open and for a split second, he thought it was her until he saw the eyes of the person who walked in. He looked down in defeat. It was just another medic.

He liked the way she knew the bad side of him and saw past it.

He was starting to become anxious. He couldn’t like her in that way. Emotions were dangerous. 

Besides, who could ever love him?

~~~

“It’s just a dog it’s not a fucking terrorist!” She screamed.

“Ma’am we just need to make sure you’re not trying any funny business,” the guard assured her.

She placed her hands on her hips. “How stupid are you?”

“For God sakes just let the girl in before she kills you,” Tony crowed.

“But-,” the guard looked down at Rufus.

“Congratulations, you just became the stupidest person I have ever met. Quite a feat as I have met someone who thought glue was a snack. In tenth grade.”

The man flushed and she walked past, toting the golden retriever in her arms proudly.

~~~

“Well, that was the most pointless twenty minutes of my life. Here, Rufus, you have your freedom,” she unhooked the leash and the dog ran straight into Bucky arms as Bucky laughed.

“Typical. He likes other men more than me,” she sighed and took her hat off, shaking the hair that she had slightly curled this morning because she didn’t feel like actually working with it. “His name is Rufus,” she told Bucky as she sat down.

“Hey, Rufus,” he whispered as the dog happily licked his face.

Kat usually hated the way her dog preferred everyone over her (I mean come on you get a dog and it loves everyone more than you?) but watching Bucky interact with the dog shoe couldn’t help but giggle. It was like a small puppy interacting with an even bigger puppy.

It was one of the most adorable things she had seen.

She shook her head.  _ Shit.  _ She was falling hard.

~~~

“I’ve been thinking,” Bucky announced, still petting Rufus.

“Oh?” Kat raised an eyebrow. She had long since retired to her cot in the room. Bucky had been playing with Rufus for about an hour.

“I think I wanna talk about my dreams.”

“Oh, okay,” she tried not to sound too excited. This was a big step, but she didn’t want to freak Bucky out over it. She walked over to him and sat in the chair beside him.

“But, I-I don’t-”

“Would it help if I told you about some of my dreams too? Maybe, make it easier if it’s not just you?”

“Yeah, that might work.”

She nodded. 

He took a deep breath. “So, I’m in this chair they use to wipe my memory and these guys are repairing my arm after a mission, but I start remembering Steve and I remember being friends with him right after they sent me to try and kill him. I get angry, really angry, and I push a guy across the room into a wall. He doesn’t get back up. Then this guy enters. Pierce with Rumlow and a couple of other men. He tells me what I’m doing is good even though I feel like a monster. I try to tell him I new Steve but he hits me and the dream ends with me getting electrocuted and my memory wiped again.”

She stared at him sadly. Not in pity or anything he didn’t want but just simple sadness.

She looked at the door and at the camera in the room. It didn’t record audio at her request. If it was really important, they could ask Friday for the records. She wanted their conversations to be private.

“Nobody else knows this except Sam and I’m guessing Natasha and Tony.” Nat seemed the type to have experienced what she experienced and she knew Tony would have gone through all her records by now. He didn’t seem like he trusted easily. “When I was thirteen, I met this guy named Robert. I had a huge crush on him and I dreamed of one day running away and marrying him. He was thirty-six. It was just kid stuff. Dreaming of the older guy falling for you. But one day he told me he knew how I felt and he felt the same.”

Bucky immediately grew concerned. No guy approaches a thirteen-year-old girl and talks to her like he wants to go out sometime. Kat almost instantaneously read his expression and nodded.

“Yeah, no, it was sick, but back then I thought I was so fucking cool. An older guy liked me. The girl with the messy brown hair who was shorter than all her classmates and had the odd pimple coming in weird spots like on my ear or something. But he promised me he liked me. One day, he even asked my mom if he could watch me while she was at work. Since he was my dad’s boss she said yes. That night he said he was going to teach me ‘grown-up things’ and raped me. He kept doing that for six months, telling me that if I loved him I would do it. He gave me all sorts of bruises when I couldn’t make him cum. Scars that I still have today.”

She turned around and lifted up the back of her sweatshirt. There as an ugly bruise there that was all sorts of purple and black. “He fractured my tailbone. I never went to the hospital. Couldn’t sit for weeks at school.”

Bucky was disgusted. “You don’t touch a woman like that,” he spat.

“Yeah, well, he died in prison and I learned he didn’t actually love me around then.” She scoffed. “I told him all my deepest darkest feelings and emotions and he hurt me.”

“How do you learn to trust again?” Bucky wondered.

She sighed. “It was like four years before I met someone new. He understood my past and was really kind and slow with me. He showed me that not everyone is not an asshole and that there is some good in the world.”

_ That’s why she was so good to me. That’s why she still had hope _ , Bucky thought.

“What happened to him?” Bucky wondered. Obviously, they weren’t still together. He could tell because she used past tense when talking about him.

She inhaled sharply and looked away.

Bucky automatically felt like an ass.  _ She treats you so nicely and you talk about her dead ex-boyfriend? Nice.  _ His own mind spat at him.

“I’m sorry,” he scrambled.

“I-It’s fine. He went away and he promised he wouldn’t. He got on a stupid plane and never came back. It’s not his fault. I shouldn’t blame him. A plane crashes it’s not his fault, right? It’s just sometimes,” she hesitated. “Sometimes I wish he took me with him.”

“I’m sorry,” he repeated. 

“It’s okay. It’s not your fault either. Life just sometimes sucks, but sometimes it’s good too. It’s always a surprise.”

“I thought I was the only one who felt like this,” Bucky admitted.

She smiled. “You’re not alone, Buck. You’re not alone.”

~~~

“You know sometimes I think you’re out to get me,” Kat sighed as she hopped up onto the sidewalk arm in arm with Sam.

He barked out a laugh. “What because I’m making you see your therapist?”

“Yes! When we were little we used to call my therapist my mind rapist remember?” She grinned.

“Yeah, and now I’m forcing you to go see the mind rapist. Oh, how the times have changed,” he chuckled.

“You said it not me.”

She walked into the pristine offices with Sam who checked her in and Dr. Cartel walked out with her stringy blonde hair, makeup that looked like it was put on in the dark, and thin-lipped smile.

“Ah, Kathy!” She exclaimed, holding her arms out for a hug. Kat just stared at her blankly and she heard Sam laughed from the front desk. “Yes, I see things are still how we left them.” She cleared her throat. “Shall we?”

Kat rolled her eyes and started walking towards the office, but not before flipping Sam off as she went.

When she got into the room that looked more like what she pictured Dr. Cartel’s living room looked like rather than an actual therapist’s office.

It had one of those noisy water flowing statues that Kat thought was supposed to calm her but really just made her have to pee. There were a couple sad looking house plants that appeared to be crying for Kat to save them from their eternal hell.

On the walls were various degrees and pictures of Dr. Cartel with people she thought were impressive but were really just very low ranking government officials that held next to no power in a court of law. She also had one picture with her town sheriff up as if getting a picture with him was an amazing feat.

In the center of it all was a velvet sofa and a hard chair with a small table beside it.

The sofa was the only good part of the whole room.

Kat sighed as she lied back on the sofa.

“So, Katherine Elizabeth Hastings, how are we feeling today?”

Kat rolled her eyes. “Fine.”

“Just fine?”

“Yes, just fine.”

“The anniversary of Robert’s death has recently passed. Did you burn the pictures of you with him like I asked?”

“Yes.”

“How did it feel?”

“Relaxing. To see the fire eat up his face was relaxing.”

Dr. Cartel jotted down a note. “Sam tells me you have a new job.”

“Oh, does he now?” Kat raised an eyebrow, making a mental note to kill Sam later.

“Yes. He says that you’ll be working with a man you’ve had a crush on for quite some time.”

“Oh, of course, he does.”

“Well? How are you feeling about this man?”

“Thanks, Doc, but I don’t really have it in me for the girl talk. Besides, I’m paying you to treat me not be my gal pal, ain’t I?” Kat rolled her eyes.

“I’m simply asking because your last two relationships have not ended well and perhaps this presents a new opportunity for you.”

“My last two relationships ended with Jason dying in a plane crash, and me breaking up with Sam because I can’t have kids. I’d say that pretty much has me set for failure what about you?”

“Sam still doesn’t know the real reason you broke up with him,” Dr. Cartel stated. “He says something about music?”

“Yeah, and he’ll never know. I liked him. I really did. Safe to say I was ready to get married to him, and you know how I hate marriage. It’s just a piece of paper to me, but I was willing to do it for him. Until I found out I can’t give him kids. The one thing he wants more than anything.”

“You have a disorder in your ovaries, Kathy, it’s not your fault.”

“Yeah, well it kinda feels like it. If I can’t have kids that are my own shouldn’t I be with someone who has the same problem?”

“This man that you’re treating. Is he infertile as well?”

Kat thought back to the Hydra records. They explicitly stated they sterilized him before sending him out on missions. One less thing to worry about. She thought it was disgusting to do that to a human being who is born with the ability to make tiny versions of them as well as the person they loved most in this world. To just rip away a future family like that. She had no choice but he did and he got it taken away.

“Yes,” she whispered and Dr. Cartel smiled.

“Then it seems as though this crush has some hope.”

“But my track record and the fact that he’s my patient are kind of against me.”

“Sam says the place you work in is very kind. They may not care. And you cannot allow your past to control your future.”

“Yeah, just without kids.”

~~~

_ Robert loomed over her broken body with a sick twisted grin.  _

_ “Please, I can’t take anymore,” she pleaded. _

_ “Don’t you love me? If you love me you’ll want to continue.” _

_ She nodded. “I love you but it hurts. It hurts so much. I don’t think I can take anymore.” _

_ “Then, you don’t love me,” he grabbed her long hair which as an adult she would forever wear short. He positioned her face right in front of his crotch. “Now do as I say, and if I don’t cum in your mouth then obviously you don’t want me to care about you. Got that?” _

_ She nodded shakily. Anything to stop the pain. _

_ Suddenly there was a flash and she was in her living room, watching the news about flight 416 crashing and burning to ashes. No survivors. _

_ She paced the house with a beer in her hand. She was eighteen. That was the only time she drank. _

_ Sam called her to send his condolences. She refused to believe it was his flight. _

_ At the funeral, she screamed they had the wrong guy. He probably ran late for his flight and missed it. He was always doing stupid shit like forgetting his keys or the right pair of socks. _

_ It wasn’t him. _

_ There’s another flash and she’s sitting in a doctor’s office being told there’s no way she can have her own kids. _

_ She’d had unprotected sex with Sam three times and no sign of pregnancy. She lied and told him she was on the pill. _

_ She lied again breaking up with him. Saying her roots in music are more important than some guy. _

_ She had to give him up. He wanted kids. He always wanted kids ever since he was a kid, and she can’t have them. _

She woke up screaming. It took her a moment to realize where she was as she felt the cot around her and held her chest as she realized where she was.

Then she burst into tears.

Bucky was startled by what he saw. He was unsure of what to do. He thought at first about turning away and giving her some privacy when he knew she wouldn’t want that.

_ What would someone do out of kindness? Out of love? _

He got up out of bed and slowly walked over to her. A million different scenarios crashing through his mind as he did so, the most prevalent being her pushing him away and caving back into her own comfort.

Regardless, he sat down on the cot and tentatively wrapped his left arm around her.

She froze momentarily and started breathing heavily and he worried he had screwed up when she moved closer to him and rested her head on his bare chest.

He let out a sigh of relief and wrapped his arms around her, running his fingers through her hair slowly as she sobbed onto his chest, wrapping her own arms around his abdomen.


	8. Happiness

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back everyone! I'm so happy to be back writing this story and I can't wait for you guys to see what I have planned! Now, this chapter is fairly short and is somewhat of a filler chapter to get me used to writing again.

“You had the nightmares again didn't you?” Sam prompted Kat as she stared mindlessly into her coffee cup.

“I don't know what you're talking about,” Kat mumbled.

“You need to go to your therapist again,” Sam said in the typical parental fashion.

Kat rolled her eyes. “No I don't. I'm fine,” she said.

“Kat, you have bags under your eyes the size of Texas, and you look like you haven’t slept for the past week,” Sam told her and she shot him a glare.

“I've been sleeping,” she mumbled.

“Sleeping while you're supposed to be helping Bucky doesn't count.”

“He doesn't mind! And I can only sleep during the day anyway,” she shrugged.

“Why don't you sleep at your own apartment? Tell Cap you need a break, I'm sure he’ll get it,” he reasoned and Kat shook her head firmly only to be met with a sigh from Sam. “Nobody said you had to be the best doctor ever, Kathy. Everyone's allowed to have off days.”

“I never said that. I know I don't have to be the best doctor ever.”

“Then what is it?” Sam frowned. He thought momentarily before his eyes widened as realization dawned upon him. He glanced behind them and made sure nobody was listening before leaning in close to Kat. “Is it your crush on Bucky?”

“No!” Kat exclaimed. Sam raised an eyebrow and she sighed. “Maybe. I don't know,” she shrugged. “I can't sleep at home anymore because if I do wake up from a nightmare, I wake up alone, and I think that's what freaks me out more than anything. Waking up and seeing him there, it helps.”

“I'll be the first to admit that I did not expect waking up from a nightmare, the sight of a trained assassin would be a comfort,” Sam chuckled and she rolled her eyes.

Kat sighed. “Maybe, it’s just the house. Waking up in that place alone just gives me the creeps when I'm having nightmares,” she shrugged.

“I still stand by my statement. Last time you had the nightmares you felt a lot better after you visited Dr Cartel.”

“I just hate seeing his face. If I could stop seeing his face I would be okay with all the other stuff,” she mumbled.

Sam watched her for a moment. He had been Kat’s best friend throughout the raping and the only friend to stay by her side when she spent weeks at home, too terrified to go outside without his permission. Too terrified to greet a world where she was the little freak that fell in love with her rapist. His heart broke as he watched her, years later still torn up over a man that had died long ago.

He took a shaky breath and met her eyes. “Move in with me.”

 “What?” She frowned.

“Move in with me,” Sam repeated. “If you have a nightmare you'll be able to wake me up and I can help you. That way you don't have to spend every night at work in order to have some basic comfort after bad dreams.”

Kat shifted uncomfortably. It was a good idea, but for some reason there was a little voice in the back of her mind telling her not to do it.

As strange as it may sound, she liked being able to have Bucky as a comfort when she was upset. It was strange, but feeling physical comfort from the man who had provided her emotional comfort for most of her childhood made her feel a thousand times better. Maybe, it was just her silly little schoolgirl crush on the soldier.

She hated it. She hated the way her heart skipped a beat every time he hugged her, or was willing to stay up with her after she woke up screaming. It was reckless and stupid. She wasn't supposed to like a patient that way, and yet there was something about the way he looked at her when she read to him. It made butterflies soar through her stomach at the very thought.

Maybe, if she stayed over at Sam’s house for a while she could move past her silly little emotions. She sighed and met his gaze once more.

“I guess that would be the best temporary fix until I feel like I can face another session with Dr. Cartel,” Kat shrugged and Sam grinned.

“Okay, great. You can use the guest bedroom. Do you want me to move Rufus over or do you wanna take care of him?”

Kat snorted. “Please, you're the only person Rufus hates more than me. I'll take him tomorrow morning. You can move my stuff if you want, but only bring a week's worth of clothes.”

Sam nodded. “I'll tell Steve.”

“Okay,” Kat sighed. “But don't get cocky with this!” She called as he headed towards the elevator. “I know how you like to brag, Sam Wilson!”

He chuckled and winked at her before disappearing from her view.

Kat took a deep breath and downed her last bit of coffee before heading to Bucky’s room.

She opened the door and was immediately blasted with Frank Sinatra playing loudly on a record player.

She smirked and moved her chair over so she could step onto her cot and grab her sweater from her back.

“Good morning, Bucky,” she said and he jumped at her sudden presence before sending her a sheepish smile.

“I remembered how to work it,” he muttered and she nodded.

“That's good,” she said. “Has there been anything else since last night?”

“Not much just… pictures,” he mumbled.

“How do you mean?” Kat wondered.

“Like moments in time. I remember a battlefield and seeing someone die. I remember choking a face I don't recognize. I remember being in Steve’s living room listening to this, but I don't remember anything beyond that. Just the moment.”

Kat nodded. “That's understandable. After the war, my dad said he never remembered the whole thing. Just moments of seeing people he knew die. That can often happen when you face traumatic events, it's not just your mind playing tricks on you.”

“Good. I don't want to remember the whole thing,” Bucky said and Kat's heart went out to him. She couldn't even begin to imagine what he was going through at that moment. His mind was forcing him to relive events that he never wanted to face again, and he had no say in the matter.

“It will get better, Bucky. It did for my dad. It can get better for you too.”

“You don't mention him much,” Bucky mumbled.

“What?” Kat frowned.

“Your father.”

Kat sighed and sat down on her cot as she pulled her sweater on. “I guess I just don't feel the need to mention him all the time. Why? Is there anything you want to know?”

“Tell me about him.”

Kat frowned but shrugged and obliged, taking a deep breath as she launched into her story. “After the war, he-”

“No,” Bucky snapped and Kat looked up at him with wide eyes. “Tell me about him.”

Kat realized what he meant and signed softly as a small smile made its way onto her face. The music twirled around her mind as memories of her father danced across her brain.

“He-He was wonderful. He was incredibly smart but never insulted me if I wasn't that smart. He got me my first puppy when I was seven. I named her Sarah. We had a whole funeral when she died. Everyone dressed in black and my dad even bought a tombstone because I was so upset about losing her.” Bucky smiled at that. He could picture a small girl that looked so much like the woman before him, dressed in a black dress crying over the death of her closest friend.

“He was the one that got me interested in music from the thirties and forties. He used to tell my stories about how before his dad, my grandpa, died in the war, he would hide in his office all day after school to avoid doing homework and he would just listen to music like Frank Sinatra and Doris Day and Dean Martin on the old record player that barely functioned anymore. He said that's how he fell in love with their music. When my grandpa found out,” Kat chuckled softly as tears began to form in her eyes. “He wasn't even upset. He just pulled up a seat for my dad and told him stories about each song they listened to. My dad would listen to grandpa speak for hours and just fall more and more in love with each song they played.”

Bucky grinned. She seemed so happy reliving the memories. He thought she looked quite beautiful in that moment with a small smile permanently etched across her face and her eyes glinting with tears of happiness as she remembered the funny memories of her father. He wanted more than anything to brush her hair back from her eyes and kiss her softly.

“I later did the same thing with my dad and that's when he told me that story,” she shrugged.

“That sounds great,” he remarked and she nodded.

“He died when I was nineteen. My mom and my dad were some of the greatest people you could ever meet. Sometimes it feels like I'm not their daughter because they were so brave and so kind and yet here I am,” she smirked.

“You're right,” Bucky nodded. “You're so much better than the pair of them.”

Kat grinned wider than Bucky had ever seen. Her cheeks turned slightly pink and her eyes welled up with tears as she looked up at him. “Thank you.”

~~~

“I think he's ready to see you,” Kat said and Steve looked up so fast she almost jumped in surprise.

“Are you serious?”

Kat nodded and sipped her soda cautiously, entirely aware of each of Steve’s movements. “He's improved a lot since we first started. He's remembering more and though he isn't happy with most of it, he isn't just sticking to his bed and the bathroom. He's trying to do things.”

Steve seemed to have tuned her out after she nodded to him. He receded into his mind as a thousand ideas of what he could say raced through.

“Steve,” Kat warned, placing a tentative hand on his arm, bringing him back to reality. “I know you're excited, but keep in mind he is still fragile. Don't bring up hundreds of memories all at once and don't force him to remember anything. That's an easy way to make him upset. I'll put on some music and you can see him, but let him talk to you.”

Steve nodded as he absorbed the information and just as he was about to ask Kat a question someone behind her cleared their throat.

Kat whirled around and her jaw dropped. “Bucky,” she smiled. “What are you doing here? Is something wrong?”

“I was hungry.”

“Oh, shit. I'm sorry. I should've been there,” Kat internally repetitively cursed herself for being so stupid.

Bucky shrugged. “I can get the food myself.”

“Okay,” Kat nodded. Internally, she was crying out in  joy at the fact that he had actually left his room and was willing to do even more for himself, but she reminded herself not to make it seem like such a big deal. It's a good thing, but if she over congratulated him for its she might risk freaking him out and losing a lot of the progress they had made.

Steve seemed close to freaking out as well. He excused himself from the kitchen and Kat continued to smile softly at Bucky as he prepared a small sandwich.

“I could've made that for you, you know,” she said and he grinned.

“You do too much.”

“Bucky, I'm your doctor. It's in the job title.”

“I like being able to do things for myself.”

Kat nodded. She guessed that after seventy years of being told what to do every second of your life, as soon as you learn how to do otherwise, you grasp onto that freedom with all you have.

Just then, Tony walked in with a cocky smirk the moment he laid eyes on Bucky.

“Well, it seems the tin man has finally been oiled,” Tony chuckled and Kat rolled her eyes as Bucky appeared confused.

“Shut up, Tony,” Kat muttered.

“Oh, sorry to offend Florence Nightingale,” Tony chuckled. “But bird boy back there told me you might need a couple days off to move into his place.”

She sighed. “Yeah, I'll sleep over here tonight and then tomorrow morning I'll probably take off with him, and I should be back by the next morning?” She guessed and Tony nodded.

“Well, let me or Cap know if you need more time. You've been practically living here so it shouldn't be much trouble,” Tony said and she nodded, her cheeks slightly pinkening at the fact that he mentioned her constant presence in the tower.

“Thanks,” she mumbled and he nodded before heading to the elevator.

Bucky turned to her with a frown. “You're leaving?” He said and her eyes widened.

“Yes, but only for a couple days.”

Bucky took a deep breath and walked past her without another word, marching to their room. He was upset to say the least. The only time he had peaceful dreams was when she was in the room with him and she was just planning on leaving him alone at night without saying a word. He felt betrayed by the one person he trusted.

He could hear her calling his name from the kitchen and he groaned, raking his fingers through his hair. It had been so long since he had reacted to something with anything other than anger or fear, the twisting of his heart felt foreign in his chest.

He had no idea what he was supposed to do or say and the one person he would normally ask was the one he was upset with.

Kat had spent so many nights by his side, he didn't want to see a night without her. It would be foolish at that rate to try and act like he only felt respect and maybe friendship for the woman.

He cared about her, and he was scared to death of it.

He felt her knocking on the door and sighed, leaning against it as he tried to rake his brain for what a normal person would do.

That was all he wanted. To be normal. To be accepted by society. To be able to like Kat without wondering if she’d be too scared to have a relationship with an assassin. He just wanted to be normal again. To _feel_ normal again.

“Bucky, please open the door,” Kat begged. “I'm sorry I didn't tell you about moving to Sam’s place, I really am,” she insisted.

Suddenly, the door swung open and Kat jumped back in surprise, momentarily taken aback that he actually opened the door instead of continuing to sulk.

“I don't know what to do,” Bucky confessed, feeling a bit foolish. He felt like a child asking their parent what was right and what was wrong. “I don't know what to do in this situation,” he shrugged. “I don't want to have nightmares again. You, you stop the nightmares.”

Kat sighed and ran her fingers through her hair. “I should have told you earlier that I was moving. If you want, I can get Steve to check up on you, or I can leave a couple of the books and some music, but I do have to leave for at least one night, Bucky.”

He took a shaky breath and nodded. “I know.”

“So, do you forgive me for not telling you earlier?” Kat asked, holding her breath.

Bucky sighed and nodded slowly, making Kat slowly begin to grin.

In the midst of her joy, she jumped up and wrapped her arms around Bucky’s next, pulling him into a tight hug.

Bucky froze and smiled softly before wrapping his arms around her petite waist, absorbing every second of the hug that he could.

It was one of those rare moments when Bucky felt happy.


	9. Pretty in Pink

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I don't own Pretty in Pink

Kat lounged on the sofa as she flicked through the channels on Tony's large TV.

It was almost intimidating to compare Tony’s home to her small apartment.

She barely owned a DVD player while he seemingly had it all.

She began to grow weary of finding nothing on when she spotted her mother’s favorite movie: _Pretty in Pink_. Kat grinned and immediately turned it on, pulling on a blanket and grabbing her mug of coffee.

Just as she started to get comfortable, Steve walked in and flashed her a smile.

She scooted over so he could have some room to sit and turned up the movie.

“What are you watching?” He asked, gesturing to the TV screen.

“Pretty in Pink,” Kat smiled. “It was one of my mom’s favorites. It's from the late 80’s. She was kind of obsessed with the 70’s and 80’s.”

Steve chuckled. “Is it worth making the list?”

Kat took a sip of her coffee before nodding firmly. “Oh, definitely.” She hesitated. “Though I would recommend watching all the movies in order,” she suggested. “Y’know, fifties, then sixties, then seventies and so on. It might take forever but it should make things easier to understand.”

“That might be a bit difficult when I got Sam on my back 24/7 trying to get me to watch all his favorite stuff from the nineties,” Steve chuckled. “I've barely made it through the sixties.”

Kat rolled her eyes. “Sam just wants someone to share his shitty music taste with. I'll handle him. You just worry about working your way through history,” Kat sighed.

Steve smiled. “Thanks.”

Kat shrugged. “No problem.”

On the TV screen, Blane and Andie walked out of Blane’s car.

“I'm really sorry for bumming out the night for you,” Andie sighed.

“You didn't bum out anything, I had a great time,” Blane said.

Steve cast a hesitant glance at Kat while she smiled softly at the screen. He remembered Tony jokingly stating that he had a crush on the doctor and looking at her in that moment, there was no denying that she was beautiful. She was still in her pyjamas but she bore a form of beauty that was overwhelmingly present no matter if she had just woken up or was all dressed up. Steve remembered seeing that beauty in Peggy.

However, he couldn't bring himself to think of the girl as anything more than a little sister. He was grateful the young woman was caring for his closest friend, but he felt nothing more than friendship for her.

“Kat?” He prompted.

She raised an eyebrow, never taking her eyes off the screen.

“Thanks for taking care of Bucky.”

She smiled as she turned to Steve. “It's no problem,” she shrugged nonchalantly.

“No, seriously,” Steve insisted. “Anyone could have easily cut and run after reading his files or being insulted by him countless times in Russian, but you stayed.”

Kat grinned. “I guess I feel like he deserves someone he can trust. Someone that won't treat him like a monster after he spent so long feeling like one.”

Steve nodded. “Well, he appreciates it. He really does. I can see it in the way he looks at you.”

Kat stomach flipped joyfully at that but she concealed it well with a persevering smile. “I'm happy to help to him.”

Steve watched her momentarily with a small frown. When she spoke about Bucky, Steve could've sworn he saw something flicker across her face. A shadow that he had seen in Bruce and Natasha not too long ago.

As it fizzled away, Steve shook the feeling off but swore to remember the event for later.

Maybe, he could ask Bucky or Kat about it sometime.

He took a deep breath. “I gotta go train Wanda, but enjoy your movie.”

“Thanks,” she smiled as he passed by.

Kat sighed as she tried to focus on the movie, attempting to clear her head of the way her stomach flipped when Steve confirmed she was helping Bucky.

She groaned and slumped back into the couch.

She was such a petty little schoolgirl with a stupid crush.

 _She was his doctor_. She had to remind herself that any relationship with him would be totally inappropriate.

“I don't know,” Andie mumbled on screen. “It's just too weird for me. Maybe, it shouldn't happen,” she said awkwardly and Kat nodded firmly.

 _Exactly_ , she thought. It would be far too weird for her to date her patient. She was supposed to be healing him.

“What? You and me?” Blane prompted. “Well, maybe it doesn't happen all the time, but it doesn't mean it isn't right, right?”

Kat rolled her eyes. _No, that's exactly what it means._ If only her teacher at med school could see her then. She could name the exact teachers that would smack her upside the head and launch a string of curses at her for even considering what she was thinking about.

She groaned as Blane and Andie shared a passionate kiss.

She was in way over her head.

Kat grabbed the remote and turned the TV off as she raked her fingers through her hair roughly. Everything reminded her of her desperation to he with Bucky, and it was eating her alive.

He cared so much about her and was such a great friend and human being. They had so much in common and every time she spotted him reading a book she brought or listening to music she recommended, her heart soared.

She hoped that maybe moving would get her mind off her pointless crush, but it didn't seem to be working at all.

In fact, as she packed, Kat found her mind was wandering back to Bucky more and more.

She groaned again as she got up off the sofa.

She was hopeless.

Just as she was about to put her coffee mug in the kitchen, Sam appeared, heading out of the training room.

“Damn idiots doing more talking than actual training,” he mumbled bitterly, but froze when he saw Kat staring sadly into the sink.

“Katty?” He prompted. “You good?”

She jumped and nodded shakily. “Just thinking too much,” she shrugged.

He nodded. “Are you ready to start heading to my place?”

Kat took a deep breath. “Yeah, uh, just let me get changed and grab my duffle bag in Bucky’s room.”

“I'll be in the truck,” Sam said before heading towards the elevator.

Kat sighed deeply as she watched him leave and pulled her sleeves over her hands as she shuffled towards Bucky’s room.

She opened the door softly and headed towards her cot with her belongings scattered across it miscellaneously.

As she passed by him, Bucky smiled at her softly making her stomach do a small flip of delight.

He was stretched out across his bed reading _the Princess Bride_. After Kat had introduced him to her favorite books from the 50’s and 60’s, she decided it was best to keep the trend going and brought him her all time favorite book from the 70’s.

While she had not yet introduced him to new movies or music past the 50’s, they were moving forward steadily each day.

Bucky loved each book she brought him. He found he was learning more and more about her through each of her favorite books.

“I have to get going,” Kat muttered, watching him sadly.

Bucky frowned and placed his finger in the book to mark his page as he sat up to look at her.

Kat smirked as she saw the action, it was small considerations that made her fall in love with him more and more each day. It showed that he was unwilling to crease the pages of her book, so he didn't fold the page and yet was so entranced by the story itself that he was unwilling to close it for just one minute.

“Now?” He asked softly, his voice cracking slightly as he did so. He was hoping the day never came where he had to give up her constant presence. She was such a big comfort, he didn't want to risk losing something so familiar and he was uneasy at the thought of what he might do without her.

She bit her lip and nodded solemnly.

Bucky sighed and glanced at her and the book in his hand anxiously.

“Can you stay for ten more minutes?” Bucky requested and she frowned, staring at the door hesitantly.

Sam would be in the truck waiting for her, and that man was extremely inpatient.

Regardless, when she looked back into Bucky’s eyes, she couldn't bring herself to say no.

She nodded silently and he grinned so wide that Kat automatically knew it was worth forcing her best friend to wait a while.

Bucky let out a sigh of relief as she dropped her belongings back on the cot. He was terrified to be alone for a day without the only woman he trusted, but at least he got ten more minutes with her.

He lifted up his left arm and she smiled as she crawled into the bed and laid by his side. He wrapped his cool metal and tightly around her and they both silently read _the Princess Bride_ together.

~~~

Sam stormed into the room fifteen minutes later, furious that Kat had left him alone in the truck for that long without telling him.

“I could've gotten some food while your ass was in here relaxing and not giving a shit,” Sam snapped and Kat rolled her eyes.

“You're such a drama queen. It's not like I left you alone for hours. Relax.”

“You probably would've if I hadn't come up here,” Sam mumbled bitterly.

Kat sighed and tossed her shoe at him.

“Ow!” Sam exclaimed as her shoe hit him in his arm. Bucky just snickered as he watched the scene unfold. “What the hell was that?!”

“Two minutes. Stop whining. You can wait outside.”

Sam looked like he wanted to argue until Kat raised another shoe. “Go,” she warned, never once raising her voice at him.

Sam raised his hands in surrender and backed out of the room without another words, but not before making a big show of slamming the door to show his irritation with Kat.

Kat turned to Bucky. “Just one day.”

He nodded, not meeting her gaze.

She sighed and walked over to him.

She placed her hand on his cheek and turned his face so his eyes met her own.

Liquid blue meets stormy grey.

“I'll be back soon,” she promised. She hesitated, her grey eyes glinting as they danced across his face before she eventually took a deep breath and placed a soft kiss on his cheek. 


	10. The Safety of A Dream

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so my friend came up with these REALLY cute ship names and I just wanna share them with you all because they made me so happy:  
> For Bucky and Kat:  
> -Buckat  
> -Jatherine  
> -Barnstings
> 
> For Sam and Kat:  
> -Wilstings

“Y’know, sometimes I wonder if I'm just out to break my own heart,” Kat mumbled, leaning her head against the window if Sam’s truck.

“What happened now?” Sam groaned and Kat frowned at him.

“Oh, Mister Grumpy!” She exclaimed. “If you don't wanna know I won't tell you!”

Sam smirked. “I'm kidding. Seriously, what happened?”

“Nothing serious, but I keep acting like something can actually happen with Bucky when I know he's my patient and that can't happen.”

Sam sighed. “I still can't understand why you wanna be with him,’ he muttered and Kat rolled her eyes.

“Um, because he's kind, because he's really smart, because we’re so alike it's nice having someone that has that much in common with me, because he doesn't ask my why I have crushes on people when it's _none of their business_?” She offered.

“Okay, let's not get all touchy. I was just saying, I can't see it.”

Kat rolled her eyes again. “Whatever, it's not like it matters anyway. Nothing can happen.”

“Right,” Sam nodded. “Now, let's put on some tunes. We have time off work and I don't wanna abuse that time by talking all about work.”

Kat snorted. “Fine, but turn on something good.”

Sam smirked. “Will do.” He flicked through the stations for a while before his eyes widened. “Jackpot,” he hummed and turned up the song only to have Kat groan in response.

 _I would do anything for love, oh I would do anything for love_ , blasted through the speakers.

“You do not like this song,” Kat moaned.

Sam grinned as he sang along. “ _I would do anything for love_ ,” he sang proudly as Kat sunk back in her seat.

“Please, turn this off,” Kat groaned.

“ _But I won't do that_ ,” he sang, shaking his head playfully at her and Kat snorted.

“Oh, my God!” She laughed as he continued to sing. “You're terrible!” She giggled.

~~~

Steve paced the hallway outside Bucky’s room anxiously, fingering his phone in his pocket as his mind raced.

“You should go to him,” a soft feminine voice said behind him, making Steve jump.

He turned to see Wanda watching him with a small smiled.

“Oh,” he sighed in relief. “I thought you were Nat.”

Wanda giggled and shook her head slowly approaching the man.

Steve's thoughts were so sad regarding Bucky. It reminded Wanda so much of her relationship with her own brother.

She had never seen the soldier outside of people's memories, but she knew more than enough about him and she knew how much Steve missed him as well.

“The doctor woman has said he knows you. He should be very happy to see you again. Properly,” Wanda said and Steve sighed deeply, raking his fingers through his hair.

He had never had any problem with Wanda looking through his mind. In fact, he was one of the few Avengers that welcomed it. The rest had yelled at her or even insulted her for invading their private thoughts without their permission. After Clint retired, Steve and Kat were the only people who openly told her that they don't mind. While both minds were fairly sad, it was nice to have a place to go to when her own thoughts became far too much to handle.

“I'm worried,” Steve confessed. “I don't know how he’ll react without Kat here and I never got the chance to go in with her before she left.”

Wanda nodded. “If he does get upset, you will know  why, but if you would like, I can go with you and calm his mind.”

“You could do that?” Steve asked, a slight tone of awe entering his voice.

He never ceased to be amazed by the seemingly endless powers of the little witch before him.

She nodded sheepishly, pulling her sleeves over her hands as she smiled up at him.

“And you would do that for me?” He clarified. He knew she didn't love to use her telepathy unless it was absolutely necessary. After she attacked the Avengers she grew easy of the damage her powers could create both mentally and physically.

“Of course,” she shrugged as though it was obvious.

Steve smiled softly. “Thank you.”

She gave him a short nod, her heart skipping a beat at his boyish grin.

He took a deep breath and opened the door wide so Wanda could enter before him.

She cast one last glance at Steve to find confidence before heading inside.

He closed the door behind them and she focused in on Bucky’s thoughts, blocking out Steve's mind despite her immediate urge to find solace in his thoughts.

Wanda frowned. “I can read him,” she announced softly and she heard Steve’s sharp intake of breath. “He's dreaming.”

“What about?” Steve wondered.

Wanda closed her eyes, focusing on the dream as music faded in around her and she smiled at the violins playing softly.

The woman’s laughter echoed beautifully across the dream, making it seem like a fairytale.

“Okay, okay, this is my favorite part so you have to listen,” the woman giggled.

Wanda’s surroundings came into focus and she slowly began to see the two people laughing on a bed, side by side.

The man looked exactly like he did in Steve’s memories of the 40’s. So very different from the long haired man with the metal arm that Wanda knew.

He was tangling his fingers in the beautiful brown hair of none other than Kat Hastings.

She was laughing, sitting cross-legged on the bed as she read a heavily abused book to Bucky while, in the corner of the room, a record player played some classical music that Wanda didn't recognize.

“I'm sorry!” Bucky exclaimed, chuckling as he sat up and brushed a strand of hair out of her eyes and tucked it behind her ear. “You're too beautiful for me to focus on anything else.”

The dream Kat smiled and kissed Bucky sweetly.

“Flattering will get you everywhere, Mister Barnes,” she hummed before pulling him into another kiss, dropping on the bed carelessly as he deepened the kiss.

Wanda's cheeks began to pinken and she cleared her throat, hoping to grab the couple’s attention before she had to see something she _really_ didn't want to see.

Luckily, the couple pulled away and stared at her with confused frowns.

Wanda took a deep breath. “Sergeant Barnes, I'm sorry to interrupt but Steve would like to speak with you,” Wanda said.

“Steve?” Bucky frowned. He seemed confused by the name, but when Wanda turned to Kat, she saw the exact opposite reaction.

She turned to Bucky, placing her hands on both shoulders.

“Bucky, you need to go now, but I’ll see you again and we can pick up where we left off,” Kat smiled.

“But-”

Kat placed a finger on his lips and shook her head with a small smile. “Your friend wants to see you. This can wait.”

Bucky took a shaky breath and nodded, making Kat grin.

“See you soon,” she mumbled, kissing him sweetly.

When they pulled apart, Wanda headed over to Bucky’s side if the bed.

He glanced back at Kat hesitantly and she gave him a firm nod. He took a deep breath and took Wanda’s hand and together they exited the safety of Bucky’s dream and entered harsh reality.

Bucky awoke with a gasp sweating as his eyes darted around the room warily before his eyes landed in Wanda and he frowned.

“You,” he breathed, pointing a shaky finger at Wanda. “Who are you? How did you do that?”

“I am so sorry,” Wanda mumbled.

Bucky shook his head. “Don't apologize. Just tell me how you did it.”

Wanda frowned, her heart racing as she glanced at Steve, hoping he could help her somehow but he seemed as surprised as she felt.

Eventually, she took a deep breath and waved her hand, revealing the red wispy lights that she had despised for so long.

Bucky was transfixed by the energy. “How are you doing this?” He wondered.

Wanda glanced at Steve once again. She didn't know Bucky’s progress and was unsure if she should mention Hydra. Steve nodded and she sighed softly.

“Hydra,” she mumbled. “They did these experiments with alien technology. They gave me these abilities,” Wanda explained.

“I've heard about their trials with alien tech, but I never thought it was successful. All I knew was that it had killed hundreds,” Bucky said, unfazed by the mention of Hydra which surprised both Wanda and Steve.

Kat really had been doing wonders for him.

“It was only me and my brother Pietro.”

“Two survivors?” Bucky said with wide eyes.

Wanda nodded.

“Damn,” Bucky signed. “All I heard was that the death toll had gotten up to forty-seven.”

Wanda frowned. “They did not tell us that.”

Bucky scoffed. “Not a big shocker. They liked to tell everyone about their experiments, except the people they're experimenting on,” he muttered bitterly. He frowned as he seemed to be remembering something. “You said someone wanted to see me?”

Wanda nodded anxiously, pulling her sleeves over her hands once again.

Steve took a deep breath and stepped out of the shadows, making Bucky’s heart stop as he did so.

“Buck,” Steve said.

“Steve,” Bucky nodded.

Steve shifted awkwardly in front of Bucky’s bed as his friend stared up at him with wide eyes.

“What are you doing here?” Bucky asked.

“Kat said you remembered me,” Steve shrugged. “I figured we should talk.”

Bucky nodded solemnly as Steve took Kat’s seat and sat down beside him.

“I should go,” Wanda mumbled, silently cursing herself for not leaving the second Steve announced himself as she rushed out of the room.

“No!”  Steve exclaimed causing Wanda to stop in her tracks.

“Stay,” Steve breathed. “I mean, if you want,” he shrugged, trying and failing to act nonchalant.

Wanda turned and shook her head. “You deserve to be alone. it was nice meeting you,  Sergeant Barnes,” Wanda said, giving a Bucky a polite smile before rushing out.

Bucky waved as she left and turned to see his best friend slumping in his chair as he frowned in disappointment.

Bucky chuckled. “Someone's got a crush on the little witch,” he remarked.

Steve pinkened and sat up straighter. He immediately went on defense. “What about you and Kat?!” He retorted.

Bucky shrugged. “She's cute, but don't try to spin this on me. I saw the way you were looking at her as she left.”

Steve sighed and raked his fingers through his hair. “She's gorgeous and she knows everything about me. She's smart and stupidly brave.”

Bucky chuckled. “Like you?”

Steve scoffed. “All the stupid went with you before the war, remember?”

“And yet you somehow managed to achieve new levels of stupidity,” Bucky laughed.

“I don't know what that doctor has been telling you, but she's been filling your head with lies,” Steve smiled.

“An alien invasion in the middle of New York? A killer artificial intelligence?” Bucky prompted.

“Okay, technically I didn't start either of those,” Steve argued.

Bucky snorted and Steve grinned. He missed that. He missed being able to laugh with his best friend about the stupid mayhem he somehow managed to get himself into. It just wasn't the same without Bucky.

“But seriously, what's the deal with you and Kat? Because I've seen the way she looks at you and I know you don't just see her as your doctor,” Steve insisted and Bucky sighed.

“I dunno,” he admitted. “ I'd love for something to be there, but honestly? What kind of girl is going to want to be with me knowing what I've done?”

“She might surprise you,” Steve said.

Bucky shot him a look that warned him to stop talking. Sure, she was cute and she had kissed him on the cheek before she left, bit he couldn't look into it. Kat was brilliant which meant she knew better than to ever fall for a guy like him.

“Even if by some rare chance she decided go for me, I don't know if I could trust myself with a relationship. I'd probably do something stupid and make her cry,” he took a shaky breath. “Or worse,” he mumbled. “And I don't even wanna consider that possibility.”

“You're not that guy, Buck,” Steve reminded him. “That wasn't you.”

“I know,” Bucky nodded. “But I did it.”

“She doesn't care about that part of you.”

“She would if my hands were around her throat,” Bucky muttered, shaking his head to clear the horrifying image that had begun to fade into his mind. “I can't date her, but I definitely love her,” he decided. “That's why I have to save her from myself.”

~~~

“Y’know,” Kat sighed. “Sometimes I wonder what my life would be like if I hadn't taken this job.”

She and Sam had just finished unpacking all her belongings and she was sitting on the counter, watching as he cooked them dinner.

Sam scoffed. “That’s likely,” he mumbled sarcastically. “You've been in love with Bucky since you were seven. There was no way you weren't going to help him.”

Kat rolled her eyes. “Okay, that's a slight exaggeration. I've idolized him since I was a kid but I only really had a big crush on him as a teenager.”

Sam sighed in irritation. “I don't get it. The guy killed JFK and you're still head over heels in love with him.”

Kat frowned. “Because it wasn't him, Sam. Besides, I know it's virtually impossible for that to happen.”

“Yeah, well, he's doesn't deserve you,” Sam muttered.

Kat hopped off the counter and looked up at him with wide eyes. “Excuse me?!”

“You heard it. I think you're way too good for a guy that worked for Hydra for seventy years and decided to hide instead of telling his best friend that he was still alive. Besides, a guy like that shouldn't really be in a relationship based on how he could hurt you and not even realize until it was too late.”

“Is this Sam, my best friend, talking or jealous Sam talking? Because if I know one thing about my best friend, it's that he'd never treat other people like shit unless he felt threatened.”

“Threatened?” Sam frowned. “Please,” he scoffed. “Bucky might not even like you in that way and you're sitting here acting like I'm the bad guy.”

“Because you are!” Kat screamed. “You're being a total ass right now!”

“Katty,” Sam tried and she just marched away from him furiously.

“Y’know what? It was a stupid decision for me to move in here!” She snapped. “I can't believe I thought for one second that I could trust you with this!” She yelled before slamming her door loudly, the sounds of her aggression echoing throughout the apartment.


	11. True Love

At 7:30 in the morning Sam woke up to the front door slamming loudly, the sound echoing across the house.

He frowned as his brain processed the annoyingly loud sound so early in the morning.

When his brain finally spat the answer out at him, he jumped out of bed, scrambling to pull his sweatpants in before she could get a good lead on him.

He bolted outside just in time to see Kat reaching the sidewalk as a cab pulled up to the curb.

“Katty!” Sam called.

She spun around and shot him a glare.

“What the hell are you doing?!” He exclaimed.

“I'm getting a ride to work like I've wanted to do from the minute I got this stupid job,” she said bitterly.

“Why?!”

“Why?” She scoffed. “Because I'm not going to take a ride from some asshole who cares more about his jealousy and ego than his best friend’s feelings!” She snapped. “Goodbye, Sam!”

She slammed the door as she crawled into the cab. “Drive!” She yelled and the tires of the cab squealed as they sped down the street, leaving Sam standing outside his house flabbergasted.

“That was harsh, honey,” the cab driver remarked.

“Yeah, well he deserves it,” Kat mumbled as she sank back into her seat.

“What's he your boyfriend?”

“Ex,” Kat said with a small shrug.

“Ah,” the cab driver nodded in understanding. “Where to?”

“Avengers tower please.”

~~~

Kat took a deep breath as she stared up at the Avengers tower.

“Here we go,” she breathed.

She marched inside the tower that had grown to be a second home in the past month.

She was let through security quickly and immediately made her way to Bucky’s room. She didn't spare a moment to greet the Avengers and risk the inevitable question of why Sam was not by her side.

Instead, she headed to the room of the one person she trusted. The one person who would never question her. The one place on Earth where she felt like she could be herself.

There was a soft click as she opened the door and Bucky sat up in surprise, grinning when he saw Kat standing awkwardly at the entrance.

“Hi,” she whispered with a small smirk.

“You're back,” he said, unsure if it was a question or a statement.

She nodded. “I'm back.”

It happened within a second. One moment they were standing across from each other, world’s apart, the next they were wrapped up tight in each other's arms, holding the other so tight, one might have thought they had been apart for months rather than a single day.

“I don't wanna leave again,” Kat mumbled against his chest.

“I don't want you to,” Bucky breathed, smiling softly as he pulled her closer.

“Good,” Kat grinned, pulling away momentarily to look him in the eyes. “Because I'm not going anywhere.”

~~~ 

Over the next few hours, Bucky and Kat talked endlessly about anything and everything.

Bucky finally felt normal as he told the girl before him all of his happiest memories growing up in Brooklyn.

“It was the 1932 World Series and at the bottom of the ninth inning, I was-.”

“Wait, wait, wait, hold on,” Kat said, holding up a hand. “Are you telling me that you and Steve saw Babe Ruth up to bat at the World Series?!” She exclaimed.

“Well, I did,” Bucky chuckled. “Steve mostly saw the inside of a trash can.”

Kat snorted. “What the hell happened?!”

“I dared him to eat ten of the stadium’s hot dogs and the idiot actually did it,” Bucky laughed.

“Why does that not surprise me?” Kat giggled. “Anyway, you were saying.”

“Right,” Bucky nodded. “So it was the bottom if the ninth inning with two outs and Babe Ruth was up to bat. He stood there for a moment then raise his arm and pointed directly at the bleachers Steve and I were in.”

Kat’s eyes widened. “No!” She exclaimed.

Bucky chuckled and nodded. “So when he hits the ball straight into our bleachers it hits Steve right in the head while he's downing his ninth hot dog.”

“Oh, my God!” Kat laughed.

“He didn't even see the hit and had no idea that it was important until dozens of angry baseball fans were scraping at him trying to get that damn ball. That is, of course, when he started throwing up on everyone and everything.”

Kat snorted. “That's great,” she sighed.

Bucky grinned. He loved seeing her so happy. It made him feel like he had achieved a great victory being the source of such joy.

However, that quickly died when the door clicked open and none other than Sam Wilson appeared on the other side.

Kat’s smile fell and morphed into an ugly scowl as she stated at the man.

Sam cast a wary glance at Bucky before turning to Kat with a sigh. “Can I talk to you for a minute?”

Instead of smiling, getting up, and leaving the room with Sam as Bucky had expected her to do, she clenched her jaw and didn’t even look him in the eyes as she spoke.

“No,” she said simply.

There was a small sign of irritation from Sam and he waved politely to Bucky before closing the door once again.

Kat let out a shaky breath and closed her eyes momentarily as Bucky frowned at her.

“What was that?”

Kat shook her head. “Nothing,” she mumbled. She took a deep breath and painted on a fake smile. “Anyway. Where were we?”

~~~

A few hours later, Kat begrudgingly headed out to the kitchen to get lunch for her and Bucky.

She glanced around, praying that everyone was too busy training to get lunch, but it was just her luck that she should find Sam Wilson sitting by the counter wringing his hands.

She rolled her eyes and debated heading back to Bucky’s room. She knew she should've asked him to get their lunch. She started to back away when Sam spotted her and jumped out of his seat.

“Don’t!” She warned, her voice cracking slightly as she spoke. “Just don't.”

“I just need to talk to you for two minutes,” Sam insisted.

“No, you don't,” Kat said, shaking her head, her vision growing blurry as tears started to fill her eyes.

“Yes, I do. Katty, please just listen to-.”

“Stop!” Kat shouted, tears beginning to sparkle against her pale cheeks. “You don't get to call me that anymore!” She screamed so loud that Sam froze, slowly backing away in surprise.

“I trusted you,” Kat breathed. “I trusted you as my friend and you made me feel like an idiot for loving him. All because of your stupid jealousy. You made me feel like a goddamn fool and I will never _ever_ forgive you for that.”

“You think this is easy for me? Watching you and him for for each other like some goddamn fairytale? I still love you, Katty!”

Kat scoffed and rolled her eyes. “I need a friend right now, not some idiot with a crush that's about two years too late!”

“Katty, you knew when you broke with me that I still loved you,” Sam said simply and Kat rolled her eyes. “I loved you through the therapist meetings, through your parents deaths, through everything. I still love you.”

“Why?” Kat breathed. “God, why?!” She exclaimed. “What are you trying to prove?! Are you trying to prove that you're not a flake?!” She cried and Sam shook his head firmly. “You do realize that you are not a good person because you pity fucked the sick girl right?!”

“That's not what this was about at all,” Sam said.

“Then what, Sam? What the hell do you want from me because I am done with being _this,_ ” she gestured between them. “I'm done with being the only friends in the world that don't see other people because they are so fucking scared of hurting the other person,” she sighed. “I haven't dated anybody else for years because I was terrified that I would hurt you even though we broke up. So, please just tell me what the hell you want so we can just move out of this shitty middle ground!”

“I want you,” he said simply and her face fell. “I've wanted you for years now. I love you.”

She took steady breaths, her expression of utter shock never changing as she roughly raked her fingers through her hair. “No,” she whispered. “No,” she shook her head. “I can't do this. Not again.”

Sam scoffed. “Of course. Because you broke up with me, right? You're the one who moved on and you're the one who’s so scared of hurting me, right?!”

“Please, go away,” Kat mumbled and Sam shook his head.

“No. I'm not going anywhere until you explain what is going through your head because apparently I'm the only one who still feels something!”

“Sam, just go.”

“No.”

Kat took a deep breath as silent tears etched their way down her face. “Why don't you just go find some other girl who's not gonna do this to you?”

“Because I still love you,” Sam answered simply. “And I'm not letting go.”

Kat laughed humorlessly.

“That's right. It's funny, isn't it? Because you kicked me out and I'm the one who won't say goodbye.”

Kat rolled her eyes. “God, you are so stupid!” She exclaimed and Sam’s eyes widened.

“I'm sorry, what?”

“If you still think I kicked you out after all this time,” Kat began.

“You did!” Sam snapped.

“No, I didn't you fucking asshole. I never kicked you out! I gave you up!” She yelled.

“What?” Sam breathed.

“You want kids,” she choked back a sob. “You've always wanted kids ever since you _were_ a kid,” she sniffled. “And I can't have them!”

Sam’s heart stopped and he took a step back in surprise as his mind worked overtime to try and process the new information she was giving him.

“It's a disorder in my ovaries,” Kat breathed. “Incurable,” she shrugged. “I didn't want you to have to face that so I made something up. I broke up with you so that you could have kids with some other girl. Kids that were your own.”

Kat watched Sam easily, unsure of what to do.

Eventually, she began to back away and head towards Bucky’s room once again.

“I'm sorry,” she whispered and turned to start walking to Bucky’s room.

That was until Sam grabbed her wrist and spun her back around, forcing her to face him.

“Don't be,” Sam muttered before capturing her lips in a searing kiss, pressing her back into the wall as he devoured her. 

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hate me? Love me? Leave a comment.


	12. The One After the Kiss

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> This chapter is short as the next will be a montage of several months (September-January). 
> 
> Also, in case you don't know, my upload schedule is every other day. I uploaded last on Sunday and today is Tuesday.

Time seemed to stop as Bucky peered out of his room. The ground fell out beneath his feet and his heart thrummed loudly in his ears. He slammed the door shut and paced the room, raking his fingers through his hair as he breathed heavily.

He was stupid.

Stupid for believing she liked him back.

Stupid for thinking he could be anything more than just her patient.

 _She moved in with Sam for crying out loud._ How much more oblivious could he be?

He felt like he was going to be sick.

Meanwhile, in the hallway just outside of Bucky’s room, Kat was panting as she pulled away from Sam and stared at him as if she was just seeing him for the first time.

“Sam, what the hell was that?” She breathed.

“That was me taking back what I was damn stupid in giving up.”

Her eyes widened as her heart raced so loudly in her chest, Kat momentarily worried that Sam would be able to hear it. For a split second, concerns about Bucky and her persevering feeling for him, but she forced herself to shake the thought away.

If she got back together with San, she wouldn't be the unprofessional doctor that fell in love with her patient. She would still be able to find work after Bucky got better and she could still live a somewhat normal life.

She took a deep breath and met Sam’s warm amber eyes, flickering with anticipation as he awaited her response.

“Are you sure?” She whispered. She had to be sure he was 100% okay with her inability to have children.

He nodded firmly. “I've never been more sure of anything.”

She smiled softly and kissed him once again, wrapping her arms around his neck as she pulled him closer.

~~~

When Kat returned to Bucky’s room, she felt like she was on cloud nine, meanwhile, he felt as though he couldn't sink any lower.

She sat across from him and Bucky felt like she had betrayed him.

She acted as though nothing had happened when she smiled at him.

She acted like everything was okay.

“I don't wanna talk anymore,” Bucky mumbled and Kat’s smile fell, leaving her looking hurt and making Bucky’s stomach twist uncomfortably.

“Did I say something wrong?” She wondered and Bucky shook his head.

“You didn't say anything.”

Kat furrowed her eyebrows and sighed softly but nodded.

“Do you want me to leave?” She asked softly and he net her utterly confused grey eyes with his liquid blue eyes.

He nodded slowly and her eyes widened.

“Uh, okay,” she said awkwardly as she stood up. “I guess I'll see you later, Bucky.”

He nodded once more, not trusting his voice in that moment.

She headed out, casting one more wary glance at him before leaving the top.

When Bucky heard the door click closed, he hung his head, allowing his long hair to shield his face as he took slow, shallow breaths.

He couldn't believe he was arrogant enough to believe that anybody could love him after all he had done.

He was damaged goods.

She was safe with Sam.

Bucky Barnes was a risk nobody would be willing to take.

~~~

“I don't know,” Kat signed. “I don't know what happened. One minute we were laughing at Steve throwing up at the World Series, the next he looked all depressed and asked me to leave,” she said, anxiously fingering the hem of Sam’s college sweatshirt.

“Steve threw up at the World Series?” Sam snorted in between bites of his cereal, which he was eating at three in the afternoon, making Kat roll her eyes.

“Sam!” Kat snapped.

“Okay, okay,” he sighed, raising his hands in surrender. “Are you sure nothing happened before you headed out to get lunch?”

“Positive!” Kat exclaimed.

“Well, maybe he just got into one of his moods. Do you remember after the war one day your dad happily said we could hang out at your place then screamed at you for half an hour when you laughed too loud at that movie?”

That was another thing about dating Sam; they had history. Dating him was logically the best solution.

“Yeah,” Kat sighed.

“This is probably just that,” Sam shrugged. “You can't forget he was in a World War, Katty.”

“I know,” Kat mumbled as Sam pulled her into his lap and slowly started combing his fingers through her hair. “I just wish I knew what he was thinking. Y’know, figure out whether or not he's angry with me.”

Sam nodded. “Maybe, it's not you. Maybe, this is something he just needs to work out on his own.”

Kat sighed. “Maybe.”


	13. Days Go By

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm so sorry this chapter is a day late, but as you can see it is fairly lengthy and I've been pretty busy the past two days. Regardless, I'll try to update tomorrow to keep the schedule for you guys.

After Kat and Sam got back together, word quickly spread about their reunion, much to Bucky’s disappointment.

They happily flaunted their renewed love and each day with Kat seemed to blur into the next as Bucky began to lose his eagerness for each session with the good doctor.

It all seemed pointless to him.

He didn't know if it was the disappointment of losing the one person he had believed yo love him, or if he was truly angry that she had led him on only to turn him away. Nevertheless, the next few months proved to be extremely trying for Bucky as, at times, he struggled to even be in the same room as the happy couple.

 

**September**

Kat didn't know what was wrong with Bucky, and it was extremely unsettling.

Whenever she asked, he seemed to brush her off or even ignore her altogether.

Regardless of what they felt for each other, Kat had considered Bucky to be one of her best friends and losing him felt like she was losing a piece of herself.

It was eating her up inside and eventually, she snapped.

Bucky walked into the kitchen, had a lengthy discussion with Steve, but didn't even look her in the eye when he grabbed an apple and headed back to his room.

Once he left, Kat turned to Sam with a small sigh of irritation.

“Okay, Bucky has barely said a word to Sam and I these past few weeks-,” she started telling Steve.

“I'm not complaining,” Sam mumbled. “I never signed on to have the tin man fall in love with me,” Sam said absentmindedly as he shoved his eggs across his plate.

“Shut up, Sam,” Kat hissed, smacking him lightly on the head. “I was just wondering,” she sighed as she turned back to Steve. “Has he said anything to you about why he might be upset?” Kat wondered.

“He's been completely normal with me,” Steve shrugged. “Last time he talked about you to me was when he was telling me how he had feelings for you.”

Kat’s eyes widened and Sam choked on his food.

“What?!” Kat exclaimed.

Steve frowned. “Yeah, you didn't know that? I thought the pair of you knew but were just too stubborn to do anything about it.”

“No,” Kat shook her head. “I had no idea,” she sighed, raking her tigers through her hair. “I'm gonna go talk to him.” She said, heading out of the kitchen and towards Bucky’s room.

“I'm not sure that's a good idea,” Sam confessed and Kat rolled her eyes.

“Come on!” She exclaimed. “What's the worst that could happen?!”

“You could make him even more upset than he already is,” Steve offered.

“He could yell at you and threaten you in Russian,” Sam added.

Kat groaned. “You guys are such drama queens. I'll be back in five minutes,” she said before disappearing down the hallway.

“Ten bucks says we can hear them screaming at each other from down here,” Sam said.

“Sam!” Steve snapped. “That is totally inappropriate.”

Sam raised an eyebrow and Steve sighed, peering down the hallway to make sure Kat wasn't listening before turning back to his friend.

“Deal,” he said, shaking Sam’s hand making Sam chuckle.

Meanwhile, in Bucky’s room, Kat was standing before him with her arms crossed.

“Why didn't you tell me you liked me?” Kat asked and Bucky’s heart stopped.

“What?” He breathed.

“You heard me.”

“Who told you?”

“That's not important. What's important is that you never told me anything,” Kat sighed as she sat down in the chair across from Bucky.

Bucky sighed and leant back on the wall beside his bed. “It doesn't matter. You made your choice. You're with Sam now.”

Kat took a shaky breath. “It wasn't really much of a choice, Bucky. I had no idea you liked me,” she thought for a moment. “Then again, maybe I'm just _really_ oblivious.”

Bucky glanced up at her sadly and in that one teary eyed, puppy dog look, Kat’s heart broke. She wanted to take back everything she had with Sam. She wanted to break up with solely to remove that horrible look from Bucky’s face.

But she knew she couldn't do that.

She stood up, sighing deeply, and stared at the ground. “I'm sorry,” she whispered to her feet. “But just so you know, I liked you too.”

**October**

“Kat?” Wanda prompted and Kat glanced up at the witch with a small smile as she swirled her ice cream in her bowl.

“Yeah?”

“I was wondering,” Wanda mumbled awkwardly, wringing her hands as she spoke. She took a deep breath before she continued. “I know that you have helped Sergeant Barnes a lot since he originally got here.”

Kat sighed. “Yeah, I guess so. Why?” She frowned.

Wanda sighed shakily. “I was wondering if you might be able to help me?”

“What do you mean?” Kat shook her head in confusion. “According to Steve, you've coped pretty well post Hydra.”

Wanda glanced around anxiously before taking a seat beside Kat.

She wrung her hands and stared at her knees, her right leg bouncing nervously as though her body was screaming for her not to face her demons, but instead, to just bolt.

She took a shaky breath and swallowed harshly

“My brother, Pietro,” she mumbled, sighing softly, shaking her head, fighting back against her own mind as she finally asked for help. Steve had told Wanda that she could trust Kat with anything.

She hoped more than anything that he was right.

“He died. He was killed by Ultron and no matter what I do. I can't forget if.”

Kat nodded solemnly and placed her ice cream bowl on the table before turning to Wanda and gently placing a hand on her shoulder.

The witch jumped slightly in surprise but let out a small sigh of relief when she Kat smiling kindly at her.

“I'd be happy to help,” Kat mumbled.   

Wanda grinned, feeling like the weight of the world had been lifted off her shoulders.

She finally had someone other than Steve to confide in.

She finally had a friend.

~~~

Kat walked down the hallway with a clipboard that had recordings of all Wanda’s public records as well as some information from Steve about how she had been acting ever since her brother died.

When she took on the job with Bucky it had been easy. She already knew a lot about him and Tony filled in any gaps for her when she first started.

However, she barely knew Wanda, so she tried to learn everything she could before their first session. She didn't want to be visibly alarmed when Wanda was talking about serious issues that had affected her.

As she was walking, she lost focus of where she was going and bumped into a tall figure, making her drop her clipboard.

“Oh, je moi,” she sighed and knelt down to pick it up just as a pair of slender fingers grabbed it and handed it to her. “Thanks, oh,” she froze as she looked into the bemused eyes of Bucky Barnes. “Hi.”

He smirked. “Long day, doc?”

Kat winced. “Please, don't call me that,” she muttered, hugging her clipboard close to her chest.

“Why?” He wondered, tilting his head adorably, like a curious child. The action itself made Kat bite her lip and force herself to look away. She couldn't think of him like that anymore.

She sighed. “Because I used to tell you about my nightmares and put my trust in you when I was screaming out in fear in the middle of the night, and now you calling me that makes me feel like we were never anything more than doctor and patient.”

“That's all we ever were, doc,” Bucky muttered and marched away.

Before he could get far, Kat grabbed his wrist and stopped him in his tracks. “Bucky,” she sighed. She took a deep breath and tried to rake her mind for anything she could say to somehow make things better. One little word that might somehow make them friends again.

Drawing a blank, she let out a feel breath and met his vacant blue eyes with teary grey ones. “I-I’m going to be taking on some sessions with Wanda, so, we’ll have less time together.”

“That's fine,” Bucky said coldly. His voice was devoid of emotion. “Is that all?”

 _No._ “Yes.”

“Good.” He yanked his arm out of her grasp and marched away without another word.

Kat groaned and raked her fingers through her hair roughly as she leant against the wall for support. “Oh, God,” she moaned, slowly sinking to the ground as she watched Bucky’s figure fade from view.  

 **November**   

The day Bruce Banner returned to Avengers Headquarters, the tower was alive with activity.

Kat had been one of the first few to hear after Sam told her and he held her hand as they raced through the army of shield agents all vying to get a peek at the famous Hulk.

Kat, however, was just desperate to see Bruce Banner: the medical genius.

He was part of the reason she decided to become a doctor.

When she saw how he had taken that horrible energy inside of him and transformed it into something that could help, and even save people, she knew she could do the same.

Sam knew she idolized the man as a medical professional, and the second Steve told him the doctor was back, he knew he had to bring her to him.

Once the couple managed to shove through the last of the agents and get through the door to Bruce, Kat froze in shock.

“Bruce Banner,” she breathed.

He didn’t look the same as when she had last seen him on the news.

Wherever Bruce had run off to, they didn't treat him very kindly. His body was riddled with bruises and ugly cuts across every inch of his skin.

Based on just the visible damage, Kat knew he probably has countless broken and fractured bones to match the scars painted across his weary body.

It broke her heart to see so much damage on a brilliant mind that wanted nothing more than to be normal.

“Good luck,” Sam whispered, planting a kiss on her cheek. She gave him a half hearted wave, her mind fixated on the shattered remains of Bruce Banner as her boyfriend left the room.

Bruce rolled his eyes and scoffed. “Yeah, hey, kid. Come in and gawk at the Hulk.”

The doctor treating Bruce smirked at Katm he and Kat had shared a few conversations over time as he treated Bucky’s physical wounds. Nothing special, but he definitely knew her well enough to know that she had no plans on gawking at anyone in as much pain as he was.

“Hey, Pete,” Kat smiled at the doctor.

“Doctor Hastings,” Pete nodded.

Bruce’s eyes widened and he swiped Pete’s hand away as he stared up at Kat.

“You're a doctor?”

Kat nodded. “I specialize in mental disorders, but I have enough training to be a physical doctor where it's needed.”

“How old are you?”

“Twenty-three. Well, twenty-four in January,” she shrugged.

“And you're trained in both physical and mental health?”

Kat nodded.

“That's impressive,” Bruce nodded with wide eyes.

Kat grinned. “Thank you,” she said, shuffling her feet and trying to stop herself from blushing. “You're actually the reason I finally decided that I should take on medical school,” she muttered and Bruce smiled softly.

“Really?”

“Yeah,” she nodded firmly. “The achievements you made,” she sighed. “It convinced me that I didn't have to be scared of not accomplishing anything, because no matter how terrified I was of my past and my disorders, I could still do great things.”

“That means a lot, kid. Thank you,” Bruce grinned.

Kat beamed back at him, never happier as she took a seat beside him while Pete continued to work on aiding his wounds.

“So, how long have you been working for the guys?” Bruce wondered.

“Oh,” Kat signed. “I don't know. Four months?” She guessed and frowned as she realized that might actually be accurate. “Jesus, has it only been four months? It feels like four years.”

Bruce snorted. “It always does with these guys.”

Kat giggled and nodded just as the door swung open and a very unhappy looking Nat stood on the other side.

Kat heard Bruce sharply inhale as he looked up and met her rock hard gaze.

“Natasha,” he breathed.

“Six months,” she muttered before marching away without another word.

Bruce sighed and raked his fingers through his hair, wincing at the pain in his arm as he did so. “Good talk,” he mumbled bitterly.

Kat frowned. “You and Nat?” She prompted.

“Please, don't spread it all over the tower. The last thing I need is Tony all over me laughing about my little fling with the assassin.”

Kat smirked. _He's not the only one who fell in love with an assassin._

“I wasn't going to say anything,” Kat assured him. “I just-,” she began before shaking her head and turning away.

“What?”

“Nothing,” Kat shrugged and Bruce raised an eyebrow. “Okay, okay, I guess I just never pictured Nat being the type of person to allow someone to see her heart. She's so guarded,” Kat mumbled. She took a deep breath and met Bruce’s eyes. “It must've taken a lot for her to decide you were worthy.”

~~~

Later on that day, Kat was exhausted and ready to drink some warm milk and head straight to bed.

That was until she saw Sam sitting on the floor with blankets spread out and two mugs of hot chocolate, grinning up at her.

Kat immediately melted. “Are you the cutest?!” She exclaimed, running over to him and placing a sweet kiss on his cheek.

Sam smirked. “I just might be,” he mumbled and Kat giggled. “Come on, we can watch old Christmas movies all night. I already have the TV set up.”

Kat grinned. “You're amazing, you know that?”

“I love you too, Katty.”

**December**

As the Avengers Christmas party swung around and Tony got outrageously drunk, Kat found herself sitting on the couch next to Wanda alone.

After Sam declared he hated Christmas and had one too many beers, he headed off to his room without another word, far too grumpy to join the festivities.

Kat, however, had hardly noticed.

The entire party, she had found herself unable to keep her eyes off Bucky as he reminisced with Steve over old Christmas parties in Brooklyn.

She honestly believed something was physically wrong with her. She had a _boyfriend_. A perfectly good boyfriend that was around her age and who it made sense to be with.

“Your thoughts of him are very loud,” Wanda remarked and Kat groaned.

“I'm crazy, right? I'm completely insane. I'm in a relationship.”

“Which you started not knowing that Bucky had feelings for you too,” Wanda reminded her and Kat’s eyes widened momentarily before she frowned and shook her head.

“No. That shouldn't matter. I'm with Sam,” she said firmly. When she looked back at Bucky she noticed he was watching her with his bright blue eyes. _Had he heard her?_ He waved politely and gave a small smirk.

She smiled softly and waved back.

As he turned away, Kat looked back at Wanda and groaned loudly as she sunk back in her seat.

“I'm the smallest person alive. I'm horrible. I'm-”

“You are not horrible. You are in love.”

“With someone who isn't my boyfriend!” Kat exclaimed. “Ugh, why is he so beautiful?”

“I think you should tell him how you feel.”

Kat scoffed There was no way that could happen. Not while she was dating Sam. “It's easy for you. When you told Steve you liked him, you already knew that he liked you. Even if Bucky likes me, I still have to worry about Sam.”

“You could break up with him,” Wanda suggested and Kat sighed and shook her head.

“No, no, I can't. I'll feel more awful than I already am,” she took a deep breath. “No, I'm just gonna swallow my feelings and pray that one day I’ll get over this crush. Which is _just a crush_ ,” Kat reminded Wanda with a warning finger, keeping her from saying more and negating her obvious lie.

The young doctor headed to Sam’s room and Wanda turned to Bucky and Steve with a grin.

She knew the pair would get together soon enough. It was only a matter of time.

**January**

It was Kat’s birthday, and just one person was missing.

Each second of an Avenger wishing her happy birthday or insisting that she eat a piece of cake seemed to blur by as her eyes fixated on the door, waiting for it to swing open and for him to ramble some half-assed excuse about how he overslept and had to buy a new present last minute for the woman he loved.

But her daydreams never became reality, and as the hours flew by, tears flooded Kat’s eyes and she fought against crying on her birthday, losing miserably.

She ran out of the living room and grabbed her phone, peeling through her messages as she hopelessly wondered whether or not he had told her he couldn't make it and she had foolishly missed it.

She found nothing.

She choked back a sob and marched out towards the elevator and out of the tower without saying goodbye.

She grabbed a cab and, through tears, told the cabbie his address.

Maybe, it was all just a big mistake.

Maybe, he forgot the time her party was starting and was sitting happily at home with her present by his side.

Maybe, her boyfriend didn't mean to miss her birthday.

She arrived at their apartment and the door slammed as she swung it open, furious tears streaming down her face as she found him casually sitting at the dining room table, riffling through a pile of papers.

Compared to his laid back appearance, she looked like a train wreck.

“Where the hell were you?!” She exclaimed.

He glanced up calmly as though she were speaking in a formal tone. “What?” He frowned and his eyes widened when he saw her dress. “Oh, yeah. Uh, sorry I couldn't make it.”

Kat stood defeated before him. “I'm sorry, too,” she breathed.

He furrowed his eyebrows. “What- Kat?”

She marched back into her room and began packing.

“Katty- Kat!”

“What?! What will you say?! What could make this better? What?”

“I don't-,” he began and she shook her head.

“I knew I couldn't make this work. I tried, but,” she sighed. “We just don't fit, Sam. You think you can do small gestures like a movie night and that can make up for big things like missing my birthday. That's just not the way I think. I want someone who can be there all the time and I'm sorry, but that's not you.”

He looked like she had ripped his heart out and stomped on it.

She sighed. “I'll stay at the tower tonight and come back for my stuff in the morning,” she paused, taking a moment to look at his expression of utter defeat. “I'm sorry,” she said before shoving past him and marching out, trying to hide the tears that flooded her vision as she did so.

~~~

That night, Kat stumbled into Avengers headquarters teary eyed and desperate.

Unwilling to wake Bucky, she dropped her duffle bag in the hallway and tried to remember what rooms were empty so she could get some sleep.

Little did she know, Bucky was wide awake, watching her silently cry as his heart broke.

He was about to head out and offer her some comfort when Wanda beat him to it and headed out of her room, frowning at the crying girl.

“Kat?” Wanda prompted.

Kat sniffled, wiping her eyes and peering at the young witch.

“Can I sleep in your room tonight? I don't wanna wake Bucky,” she mumbled, shrugging nonchalantly.

Wanda seemed confused, but with one look into the doctor’s mind, her eyes widened and she nodded firmly.

“Steve is in there. If he wakes up, just tell him what happened.”

“I'm not sure if I'm in the mood to talk about it right now,” Kat confessed and Wanda nodded in understanding.

“Then leave it to me. I will handle it.”

“Thanks, Wanda,” Kat smiled.

Wanda grinned. “It is not a problem.

As Kat headed to Wanda’s room, Bucky only had one thought pounding in his mind. _What the hell happened?_


	14. Gorgeous

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Have a fluff chapter to celebrate the release of Taylor Swift's new song: Gorgeous. Listen to it here: https://youtu.be/EUoe7cf0HYw

Sam didn't return to Avengers Headquarters for the next few weeks and Kat moved out of his apartment and back into her old place.

She never spoke about what happened and nobody asked. Wanda was the only one who knew how much breaking up with Sam hurt Kat and therefore, stayed by Kat’s side for as long as she needed her.

Bucky had never dared to ask the girls about the events of that night.

Kat had never forced information out of Bucky and he wasn't about to do that to her.

One particularly lonely night for Kat, she sat across from Bucky in her chair as he silently read, staring into her lap.

She had been friends with Sam for over ten years and dated him for four altogether. It hurt to accept that they just could not work together. It hurt to let him go. In some way she had always known that she couldn't be with him together. They had too many differences. However, that didn't make it any easier. It was easy to stay friends with someone who had different interests, but dating them? That was trying at the very least. However, even if she had wanted to become friends with Sam again, they were way past that. You don't just become friends with the girl who broke your heart twice.

Kat looked up at Bucky with a shaky sigh.

“Bucky?” She prompted and he raised an eyebrow. “I'm sorry.”

He frowned and marked his page, placing his finger in his book before turning to her. “What’s wrong?” He asked, softly.

“I'm sorry I never told you I had feelings for you,” she sighed. “I guess I really don't know what's good for me.”

He watched her warily for a moment before taking a deep breath and opening his book once again. “I wouldn't have been good for you,” he stated casually as if his toxicity were a well-known fact.

Kat rolled her eyes. “You underestimate yourself.”

“It's not a self confidence issue, it's a fact. I can't control my own mind. If you and I were in a relationship,” he shook his head, clearing away the nasty thought. “I don't want to think about what I could do to you.”

“I trust you, Bucky. Why don't you trust yourself?”

Bucky smirked and rolled his eyes. She was still far too kind. “I still don't understand why someone like you is so ready to be with someone like me.”

“Because I'm not afraid of what Hydra made you do,” she offered with a small shrug. “Because I know that even if you did end up doing something, that wouldn't be you. That would be the soldier they forced you to be.”

“Maybe,” Bucky mumbled. “But he’s a part of me. Until they can get him out of my head, he makes me who I am.”

“I get that, but I'm not going to judge what you want to do based on him. That would be like judging Doctor Banner solely for what the other guy does. Bruce has a brilliant mind and he doesn't deserve to be treated like some big green monster.”

Bucky digested what she was saying slowly and glanced up at her with sparkling blue eyes. “Are you sure?” He asked and she smirked.

All she had ever done for the past six months is try desperately to convince him that she saw past all the murders he had been forced to commit and now he was finally beginning to see.

She nodded happily and he grinned, holding up his arm so she could lay by his side. She hopped onto the bed and snuggled up to his chest.

As he wrapped his arm around her, she couldn't help but feel safer and more comfortable with him than she had ever felt with Sam.

Sure, Sam had made her happy and she felt at ease with him, but with Bucky, she genuinely felt like she could let go of it all. She felt like all the problems and anger in her mind just faded away and in that moment there was nothing but the cool comfort of his strong arm and the peaceful silence as they read the book together.

As time faded by and Bucky became immersed in the story, Kat took a moment to look up at him and admire just how beautiful he was.

Every feature on him seemed to be sculpted perfectly. He had ocean blue eyes that, when met with hers, she felt like she could sink into, his lips seemed so gorgeously soft and his smile lit up the whole room. Everything about him was beautiful and it broke her heart that he may look in the mirror each day and see some monster instead of the gorgeous man that laid in front of her.

He deserved so much more than he got.

Kat found herself transfixed by his beautifully soft brown hair and mindlessly found herself twisting her fingers in the silky hair.

She looked into his dazzling blue eyes and he granted her a small smirk, amused by her sloppy grin as she admired his flawless beauty.

She looked back at his hair, combing her fingers through the lengthy locks. “Have you ever considered cutting your hair again? I know it was short in the 40’s, do you ever want it like that again?” She wondered.

Bucky chuckled. “I'm not exactly allowed to have clippers, Kat.”

“I could get you some,” she mumbled. “But that's not the point. Do you ever want to go back to the way it was?”

Bucky sighed as he thought about the question. At times, he considered going back to the past. Acting like the last seventy years hadn’t happened and becoming the old Bucky, but something in him fought back against the idea. He couldn't play pretend. He had to accept that times had changed and so had he.

“I think I need the change. If I went back now, I'd probably try to act like the soldier didn't exist, and I need to accept what I did.”

Kat nodded as she continued to play with his hair. “I like it,” she shrugged.

Bucky smiled as the young doctor rolled over in his arms to continue reading. He hadn't realized that some part of his mind, however small, had wanted her to approve of his decision. He wanted her to silently say that it was okay if he accepted his past and made peace with killing hundreds of people, because no matter what, she would still love him and she unknowingly just did that.

He stared down at the small marvel beside him as her grey eyes trailed the pages of the heavily beaten book. Every inch of her was beautiful and he desperately hoped she knew that. She was so gorgeous.

Her features were so soft, her eyes sparkled stormy grey standing out against her pale skin and dark brown hair. Her pouty lips were cherry red and as her laughter bubbled up from her chest, Bucky felt his heart soar. Her laughter in itself was musical. It was like a wonderful song the Bucky never wanted to forget.

He wanted to freeze that moment forever and hold in it all of it's perfection.

There was no greater feeling than holding her in his arms and admiring her in all her beauty.

It was like admiring a priceless painting. It never got old. She was stunning and he would scream it from the rooftops if it helped her see that as well.

When she looked up at him, wildly gesturing to a funny line in the book, Bucky knew that waiting for her was worth it.

She made seventy years of cryo worth it.

~~~

The tall, thin figure watched the pair entangled in each other’s arms from over the hill. He fixed his tie and scribbled some notes in his notebook before pulling out his phone and dialing a very important number.

“Otchet,” a thick Russian accent commanded through the phone.

The tall man cleared his throat. “They are growing closer each day. I expect they will be together by the end of the week.”

On the other side of the phone, a man with stubble and a cigar hanging loosely from his lips smirked. His plan was working. Soon Hydra would have a pair of soldiers more indestructible than any of the silly winter soldiers that had failed them.

He would soon have children that would lead Hydra into the new age.

“Ideal’no,” he muttered into the phone. “We may be able to move in for the extraction sooner than expected. Inform the other soldiers.”

“Ponyal, ser.”


	15. Skinny Love

Skinny Love;

_Used to describe two people that are very in love with each other, or are crushing big time on the other; but are too embarrassed to express their feelings._

 

Kat laid with her head in Wanda’s lap, watching as Bucky and Steve talked animatedly about how Steve became Captain America. Bucky repeatedly scolded Steve for following a strange man into an experiment he didn't completely understand just because he got him into the army.

It was quite entertaining to watch.

“Your thoughts are very loud when you think of him,” Wanda informed Kat once again.

Kat’s cheeks blossomed pink and she rolled around, hiding her face from Wanda.

Wanda giggled. “He thinks of you too, you know.”

“Does he?” Kat frowned. “I figured he wouldn't wanna be with me after the whole Sam fiasco.”

“No,” Wanda shook her head. “He is just very bitter he did not tell you he loved you earlier.”

“What's he waiting for, then?” Kat grumbled.

“He is afraid. Just like you are. And embarrassed.”

“I'm not embarrassed!” Kat exclaimed and Wanda raised an eyebrow. “Oh, shut up. I just suck at making the first move, okay?”

“You should have more confidence in your emotions. My Mama always said, if you love a man you must take it upon yourself to make him your own. Men are foolish and oblivious.”

Kat snorted. “Your mother was great,” she sighed, turning to watch Bucky once again. “I don't know if I can. I can be confident in a lot of things, but I'm always so terrible at showing people how I feel.”

“It’s alright. He is terrible too,” Wanda nodded and Kat giggled.

“Have I ever told you you're amazing?” She laughed. “You're a great best friend.”

“Pietro said that too. He always found it very amusing when I spoke my mind even if it wasn't requested.”

“It is,” Kat nodded. “And honestly, it's what I need right now.”

“You're welcome,” Wanda smiled.

~~~

Kat knocked cautiously on the door frame as Bucky lounged on his bed listening to music.

When he spotted her, he immediately sat up and turned it off.

“I was going to ask if it was okay that I interrupted, but clearly that's a yes,” Kat chuckled as she walked inside.

Bucky smiled beautifully at her and the whole world lit up momentarily as she took a seat beside him.

Okay, so, do you remember all of the stuff I told you when I first started dating Sam?”

“Meaning?” Bucky prompted.

Kat took a deep breath. “Meaning the day I found out that you liked me?” Kat reminded him and his eyes widened.

“What about it?”

“Well, do you remember how I said I liked you too?”

Bucky nodded.

Kat let out a shaky breath. “Well, I've tried to forget about it, and honestly, I was scared because you're my patient and it's not exactly the best thing in the world for doctor's to date their patients, but I couldn't exactly stop myself from falling for you, so I thought if I just kept dating Sam, maybe the feelings would go away,” Kat rambled. “I thought it was working. I honestly did, but then he didn't show up to my birthday, and I don't know I guess that was the final straw for me because I kept trying to push these feelings on him and it didn't feel like they were being reciprocated in the same way.”

“Why are you telling me all of this?”

Kat took a deep breath and froze. She didn't really know what the point in her talking about her relationship with Sam. “I don't know,” she admitted and he smirked at her.

“Kat, was there any real point to this?” Bucky smiled.

“There was. I think I lost it along the way, but I'm sure there was,” she frowned and he chuckled.

He couldn't help but think she was adorable as she frowned, desperately trying to grasp onto the idea she had lost in her rambling.

“When you remember, I'll be here,” he assured her before turning the music back on and reclining on the bed.

She gave a small sigh of irritation, frowning as she tried to remember what else she wanted to say, but finding nothing, she marched out of the room as Bucky chuckled, shaking his head softly.

She was like a small child throwing a tantrum. It was extremely cute.

~~~

“I'm such an idiot!” Kat squealed as she paced Wanda’s room while Wanda and Steve watched her in amusement. “All I had to say was I'm still in love with you and I went on this stupid story about dating Sam.”

“Did you even mention having a crush on him?” Steve asked.

“I told him about when I said I liked him before dating Sam but for all he knows my feelings died there!” Kat shrieked. “Why can't I have a normal conversation with him instead of just word vomiting all this shit that doesn't even make sense!”

“If it helps, he thought it was very adorable,” Wanda offered and Kat wanted to tear her hair out in frustration.

“No, it does not help!” Kat screamed. She took a deep breath and glanced at Wanda. “Okay, maybe it helps a little,” she mumbled and Wanda grinned.

“If it helps, I could talk to him. Ask him if he still has feelings for you,” Steve suggested with a small shrug and Kat sighed.

“It helps, but I think I have to do this on my own,” Kat mumbled. “Even if it takes years,” she smirked.

“Good luck!” Wanda exclaimed.

“Thanks,” Kat sighed and headed out of Wanda's room.

~~~

Kat headed back into Bucky’s room and took a deep breath.

“Hey. I'm, uh, I'm sorry about earlier,” Kat smiled nervously. “I kind of got stuck in my own head,” she mumbled as she took a seat beside Bucky.

He wrapped an arm around Kat and she relaxed into his grasp. He made her feel at ease in the simplest of ways.

“What I really wanted to say. Well, what I've wanted to say for a long time but never really had the guts to do,” she mumbled. She took a deep breath and looked up at him, momentarily getting lost in his ocean blue eyes before shaking her head and swallowing harshly. “I love you. I love you and I hardly say that to anyone. I'll probably never say it again,” she sighed. “I guess those words, from me, are yours now,” she smiled.

When she looked up at him, she saw he wasn't meeting her eyes or even watching her in utter shock, but instead, his gaze was fixated on her her small, soft lips.

Her eyes widened and her mouth parted slightly in surprise.

Time seemed to freeze and they were stuck in that moment of utter anticipation as each breath came labored and rough.

In a split second the world around them fell away as Bucky closed the gap between their lips, taking her into his arms and using all his strength to be gentle as Kat was so easily breakable.

He let his lips touch hers so lightly, his kisses felt as soft as a feather.

However, that all faded to dust as she pulled him closer, scraping her fingers through his hair roughly, making him groan and kissed her harder, pouring everything into that single kiss.

Kat felt butterflies soar through her stomach as she clung to that very moment with everything in her.

His soft lips fit into hers so perfectly, it was almost like they were molded for each other.

She sighed into the kiss and he used the opportunity to fluidly slip his tongue past her cherry red lips and Kat moaned, pulling against his long hair as he overwhelmed her with emotions, every inch of her skin reacting to his perfect kiss.

His kisses made the very years separating them fall away as if they were nothing.

They kissed like drowning people breathe, like suddenly they had discovered something that had never been so sweet before that moment.

And suddenly, it all fell away at the click of a door.

They flew apart like two teenagers caught doing something they shouldn't be, breathing heavily, as the door creaked open.

Kat turned warily, unsure of who was on the other side and groaned when she saw the awestruck face of Sam Wilson.

“What the hell do you want?” She mumbled.

“Clearly, you're busy,” he spat, eyeing Bucky like a piece of meat as he retreated.

Kat rolled her eyes and turned to Bucky. “Excuse me,” she said, placing a sweet kiss on Bucky’s bewildered lips. “Two minutes,” she promised.

“You're talking to him again?” Bucky frowned.

“Apparently,” she sighed with a small shrug. “I'm sure this is nothing. I'll be right back,” she said, heading out the door.

“Sam!” Kat called and the man froze in his tracks. “What the hell was that?”

“You moved on pretty damn fast,” he remarked, nodding to the closed door that lead to Bucky’s room.

“What did you expect me to do? Sit around and mope over a guy that I broke up with? I knew it was over when I left. It sucked but I accepted it. When will you?”

Sam rolled his eyes. “Can you blame me for wanting to be with someone I still love?”

“Yes,” Kat nodded firmly. “When that love takes over your life, then yes,” she nodded once again. “You need to move on and at this point, I'm not sure if I can help you anymore. You need to be able to realize for yourself that we’re over.”

Sam sighed. “I'm sorry. This has just been pretty hard for me.”

“I get it,” Kat nodded. “Breakups are hard,” she said, smiling kindly. “But, if you don't mind me asking, what did you come in there for anyway?”

Sam frowned as he tried to remember and his eyes widened before holding out a thin black scarf. “You left this in the guest bedroom,” he said as he handed it to her.

She frowned as the soft fabric fell into her hands. “I moved out weeks ago and you just now found this?”

“It was in the guest bedroom!” Sam exclaimed and Kat raised an eyebrow. “What? I just now got around to cleaning it.”

Kat rolled her eyes. “Whatever you say,” she sighed.

“I swear! I'm not some freak who keeps his ex-girlfriend’s clothing.”

Kat giggled. “Keep telling yourself that, Sam,” she grinned. “Whatever helps you sleep at night.”

“I swear!” He insisted while she headed into Bucky’s room, laughing as she closed the door behind her.


	16. Is There Somewhere

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Because I got bored in class, I was able to type up the next chapter and upload it early! I'll try to update again tomorrow, but if it's not possible, you got an early update!
> 
> P.S I love writing fluff

Growing up, Kat cried over guys a lot.

She wasn't sure if it was because of her childhood or just her bad relationships, but she found herself getting her heart broken far too often.

Her mother was usually by her side, calming her down and soothing her pain.

Kat remembered growing up how her mother would always tell her that men would come and go. Nothing was permanent. Some would break her heart to pieces and make her feel as though she may never be whole again, others may make her feel like she could fly, but no matter what, she would eventually find the man that made her feel like she was complete.

~~~

_“I'm sick of guys!” Kathy cried, tossing the empty tissue box onto the ground and grabbing a fresh batch. “I'm done. I'll just die alone with a hundred cats!”_

_Elizabeth Hastings chuckled and brushed back the short hair of her beautiful daughter. “You're so much better than him, honey. You shouldn't let him dictate the rest of your life.”_

_“It’s not just him! It's all guys! It's like they get off on breaking hearts,” Kathy mumbled bitterly._

_Elizabeth smiled in spite of herself. “I promise, there are much better things to come.”_

_“Yeah, like what? My first ten cats,” Kathy muttered and Elizabeth chuckled._

_"No, Kathy. I promise that one day you'll find a man more beautiful than all the stars in the sky. A man that will make your heart sing and will curse the days tears ever stained your cheeks.”_

_“Sounds like a fairytale.”_

_“It will feel like one,” Elizabeth nodded. “But I promise, if you wait for this man, he will make you smile so hard that your cheeks hurt. He will love you so much that you can feel it through it through his fingertips when he brushes the hair out of your eyes as he leans in to kiss you. But you will have to wait.”_

_Kathy smiled. “Is that what you feel with dad?”_

_“Everyday,” Elizabeth promised with a small nod. “And I know someday you'll find a man who makes you feel that same way.”_

_Kathy grinned. “Thanks, mom.”_

_“Anytime, sweetie,” Elizabeth said softly as she stood up and gave her daughter a sweet kiss on her forehead. “Now, go to bed. I won't have some guy making you miss school tomorrow.”_

_Kathy giggled. “Night, mom.”_

_“Night, Kathy.”_

~~~

That was how Kat felt with Bucky.

As she looked up at his tired eyes, she couldn't help but smile.

They had spent most of their day together.

Kat thought of it as catching up for all the time together they had lost with them both being far too stubborn to admit they had fallen for each other.

That and she was more than happy to spend all day kissing his beautifully soft lips. Every time Bucky kissed her, it felt like he was breathing life into her lungs. It felt like every second before his lips were pressed against hers, she was drowning, struggling for air and the second they kissed, she could breathe again. He brought life back into her bones.

He smiled lazily at her and her stomach flipped joyfully just as his began to grumble viciously.

Kat snorted. “How long has it been since we last ate?” She wondered.

“Apparently too long,” he mumbled and she giggled.

She sighed and begrudgingly got up. “I'll get food and be back in two minutes?” She offered with a small shrug.

“No, you don't have to do that for me. I can get food.”

Kat shrugged. “Suit yourself.”

The pair got up and Bucky wrapped his right arm around her, holding her hand with the non metal hand.

They headed out and spun around the kitchen making two sandwiches.

After Bucky finished, he took a seat and watched her as she continued fixing her lunch.

She was perfect. Everything about her was flawless, and she wanted to be with him.

He couldn't believe his luck.

After ages of feeling like all the world could give him was bad karma, he finally got one good thing in his life.

He silently swore in that moment that, no matter what, he wouldn't let anyone take her away from him. He didn't care if it killed him, he wasn't going to lose something so perfect. He had waited for years for the moments of utter serenity that he felt whenever he kissed her and he feared, if he let her go, those moments may never come again.

When she turned and flashed a quick smile at him, he silently wondered how anyone could ever bear to see such a stunning face with an adorable smile, crying. He couldn't even bring himself to imagine it.

She walked over to his side and gently cupped his cheek with her soft hands, turning his face to meet her eyes.

Kat took a moment to watch him in all of his innocent beauty before gently pressing her lips against his.

When she pulled away, she giggled so adorably that Bucky almost wanted to pull her in for another kiss.

She looked over his shirtless frame and sucked on a sharp breath before biting her lip, making Bucky groan at the tantalizing action.

“Don't do that,” he warned in a low voice.

“What?” She wondered, unsure of what action had changed the sudden change in Bucky’s demeanor.

He stood up and pulled her bottom lip between his fingers gently, gazing at her with stormy eyes. “This,” he mumbled before claiming her lips in a searing kiss.

When he pulled away, his thumb traced her cheekbone as his eyes clouded over.

“I may not be able to control myself next time,” he wanted and Kat smirked tauntingly.

“Then don't,” she whispered breathlessly.

She marched back to his room, grinning at him over her shoulder as she disappeared down the hallway.

Bucky groaned and immediately followed her back to the room, making sure to close and lock the door behind them.

~~~

The tall figure remained composed as he watched the couple through the window.

“Otchet,” the Russian voice commanded.

“They are most certainly together, ser. I can confirm through audio and visual.”

“Perfect,” the Russian man hummed. “Tell the soldiers. We act tonight. But first, be sure to get those pesky Avengers out of the goddamn building.”

“Understood, sir,” the man said before hanging up the phone and smirking at the couple.

Their happiness would certainly be short lived.


	17. The Children of Hydra

“So, you, Nat, and Wanda are just heading off on some random tip about Rumlow?” Kat clarified, raising an eyebrow.

“Yeah,” Steve shrugged. “It's probably just some rumor Rumlow spread to deter us or trap us, but that's why we’re not bringing everyone. Tony, Sam, Vis, and Banner will all stay here and be backup if we go off the grid. If it turns out to be nothing, it’ll be good surveillance training for Wanda.”

Kat shrugged. “Good point. It does sound a bit suspicious if you ask me.”

“Thus the backup,” Steve smiled.

“Plus, it must feel good to get the hell out of this tower,” Kat nodded.

Steve chuckled. “You're not wrong about that.”

Kat frowned in thought, glancing up at Steve with hesitant. “Would you totally be opposed if I got Bucky out of here? He might be grateful for some fresh air,” Kat shrugged.

“That's your call, doc. You know his mental state better than I do right now.”

“I'm also his girlfriend,” Kat reminded him. “I may or may not be a little biased in this,” she smirked.

Steve sighed. “I don't know. Where do you plan on taking him?”

“Probably just my place. He can play with Rufus for a while.”

“Than you should be fine,” Steve assured her with a wave of his hand. “Has anyone ever told you that you worry too much?”

“Ever since kindergarten when I had a panic attack after my stuffed animals were not sorted by size,” Kat joked and Steve snorted.

“The worst thing you can do to a five-year-old,” he mumbled sarcastically and she giggled.

“Have fun packing the red, white and blue clothes you fucking loser.”

“Language!” He scolded and Kat raised an eyebrow as he immediately slapped his hand over his mouth.

“We’re really gonna start this again?”

Steve sighed. “Sometimes I swear I become my mother at the worst moments,” he muttered and she chuckled.

“Don't worry. I won't tell Tony about your little slip up,” she promised.

“Good. It's been a year and he’s still making fun of me for the last one.”

Kat laughed as she headed out of Steve’s room and straight down the hallway to Bucky’s room.

She opened the door slowly and upon the very sight of him, her heart sang.

When he spotted her, he grinned and Kat silently praised whatever deity had rendered her lucky to have such a beautiful man fall in love with her. She crawled into his arms, where she felt most comfortable, and rested her head on his shoulder as he ran his fingers through her hair.

She sighed softly. “I was thinking,” she mumbled, as she sat up to gaze into his blue eyes. “How would you like to get the hell out of this tower?”

He frowned. “I didn't know that was an option. Considering what I did the last time I was outside,” he muttered and she quickly placed a finger on his lips to shut him up.

“That was ages ago. You've improved a lot since then,” she told him firmly. “And besides,” she shrugged. “You wouldn't be outside for long. I was thinking maybe just bringing you to my place,” she offered and Bucky’s eyes widened, a small grin dancing across his lips. “You could play with Rufus, I could make some pancakes, and I don't know, anything would be better than staying cooped up in here, I guess,” she rambled as his grin slowly widened.

Everything she was saying sounded so perfect. Bucky had never complained of the irritation he felt at staying in one building, no matter how big it was, it felt like a prison. He knew that if he complained, he would just be met with that frustrating sympathetic look as they told him he knew exactly why he couldn't leave the tower.

As Kat continued to ramble, he just turned to her with a sloppy grin and kissed her roughly, overwhelmed with joy at the offer.

When they pulled apart, she mirrored his ecstasy.

“So, I'll take that as a yes?” She prompted and he chuckled before claiming her lips once again.

~~~

As they headed to Kat’s apartment, she couldn't help but feel sorry for Bucky.

It was obvious he hadn't been outside for ages.

He stared up at the sky as if he was seeing it for the first time and breathed the fresh air deeply into his lungs like a sweet smelling scent he didn't want to let go off.

Kat silently cursed herself for not thinking of bringing him outside earlier.

He seemed so happy inside, she supposed it had never occurred to her how desperately he may need the outdoors as well.

Nevertheless, his expressions of endless wonder were both adorable and beautifully entertaining, leaving Kat giggling the whole cab ride to her apartment.

As they left the cab and Kat paid the driver, Bucky stared up at the building with a small frown.

“Is this where you live?” He asked.

Kat rolled her eyes. “Oh, the tone of judgment,” she mumbled as she unlocked the door. “Come on, Mister Grumpy,” she said, grabbing his hand and pulling him inside. “Enjoy a home that doesn't look like Stark’s million dollar tower.”

As he turned around to look at the open spaces and vintage appearing furniture, a small golden retriever raced up to his legs and jumped up on him joyfully.

Kat scoffed. “Of course, he sleeps whenever I'm here, but the second you get here it's like Frank Sinatra walked in.”

Bucky chuckled. “I've always loved animals. Especially dogs,” he smirked as he picked Rufus up and carried the small dog to the couch.

“Oh, yeah?” Kat said as she headed into the kitchen. “Did you ever have a dog growing up?”

“No, my mom was allergic,” Bucky shrugged as he played with Rufus. “But Steve’s dad had a German Shepherd, and I loved that dog like it was my own,” he smiled.

“That's adorable,” Kat said as she headed out of the kitchen. “It almost makes me okay with the fact that you have a better relationship with my dog than I do.”

He beamed up at her and she pulled out Rufus’s food, pouring it into a bowl. Within seconds, the dog jumped off Bucky’s lap and made a beeline for the food.

Bucky laughed. “The one thing he loves more than either of us,” he remarked and Kat nodded with a small smile.

“Listen,” she sighed. “I'm sorry about not getting you out of there earlier,” Kat mumbled.

“Kat-,” Bucky tried, but she held up a hand.

“No, I should've helped you earlier. I'm your friend, your doctor, and your girlfriend,” she said. “I should've noticed that you needed to get outside,” she said as she sank into the sofa by his side.

Bucky cupped her cheek delicately as if she was some priceless artifact he couldn't bear to damage. “You can't blame yourself for something I never told you.”

“No, but I understand why you didn't tell me,” Kat sighed. “I should've known that nobody can stay in one house for like six months and not feel like a prisoner. Even if that house has a swimming pool and movie theater,” she muttered as she raked her fingers through her hair roughly. “God, I'm so stupid!”

“Hey,” Bucky said, tilting her chin so her eyes were forced to meet his. “You are not stupid. You are the smartest, kindest, funniest woman I have ever met and you have beauty three times that. Don't underestimate the woman I love,” he said and she grinned.

“I love you so much,” she whispered.

“I love you too,” he smiled before pressing his lips gently against hers.

They fell into the kiss clumsily and Kat’s heart swelled as she wrapped her arms around him.

Kat wanted nothing more than to focus on the feeling of Bucky’s lips against her skin, his hands around her waist, the taste of coffee in his breath, and the way time seemed to stop as they were entrapped in that moment together.

It was as if, while in each other's arms, they were invincible. Anything the universe could throw at them would bounce off as though it were nothing.

They made each other bulletproof.

Entrapped in each other’s arms, the couple didn't pay any mind to the sound of the front door creaking open, or the whisper of hushed boots on the tiled floor that followed, slowly making their way closer to the pair.

However, when the sound of sharp applause bounced along the walls, ringing loudly in their ears, they jumped apart and met the offending party with wide eyes.

Due to the sheer shock of the dozens of people in her home and the small size of the sofa, Kat rolled off the sofa and onto the floor, flat onto her face.

“How sweet,” the man with dark hair, stubble and a large cigar hanging loosely from his lips hummed. “Young love.” His phony smile soon turned into a sneer as he looked down at Kat. “Zaderzhat' yeye,” he commanded the men in military- like gear with small Hydra symbols on the shoulders.

Kat and Bucky’s eyes widened. “No,” Kat breathed as two soldiers marched towards her. “No!” She screamed as they pulled back her arms and cuffed her.

“Let her go,” Bucky commanded with a clenched jaw. He was almost immediately restrained by three soldiers, but that didn't stop him from calmly looking up into the cold eyes of the unfeeling man, silently pleading for him to do as he asked.

“Ah, soldat!” The man exclaimed with a large grin. “It has been so long, has it not?”

“Let her go, and I swear you can do whatever the hell you want with me,” Bucky said so calmly, it sent chills up Kat’s spine.

“Bucky, no!” Kat yelled.

“Oh, so sweet. The brave little doctor, so unwilling to let her soldier suffer any longer,” the commander said, cupping her chin delicately.

Kat jerked out of his grasp and glared at him. “You've gotten all you need from Bucky. You've kept him alive this long,” she shrugged. “Let him live and take me instead.”

“Kat!” Bucky shouted. “Don't you dare. Don't you dare give up your life for me I’m not worth it.”

“Shut up,” Kat whispered, her vision growing blurry as the commander gazed between the couple in amusement. “Of course you are.”

The commander chuckled. “Did I not promise you?” The commander said to one of the men by his side. “They are perfect. So unwilling to risk the life of their beloved, they would die to save them.”

“Just leave her alone,” Bucky mumbled. “She has nothing to do with Hydra. She doesn't have to be involved.”

“Ah, except that is where you are wrong. Miss Hastings must have been holding out on you,” he said, gently brushing her chin. The gesture made Kat want to vomit, and she flinched against the loving acts of the old man. “Her parents, you see, worked for Shield. They unknowingly worked for us for years. That was, of course, until they discovered their true masters and consequently met their tragic death,” he smiled and faked a pout. “So sad.”

Kat's eyes widened. “You son of a bitch!” She shrieked, struggling wildly against her restraints.

“Shush, doch’,” he hummed, placing a finger on her lips that she wanted to spit upon. “So, you see, we really have no choice. With the level of strength in the pair of you and the strong bond you have just shown, there's only one solution: the pair of you will be the new fists of Hydra.”

In that moment, Bucky and Kat could've sworn their hearts stopped in the exact same second.

“No,” Bucky breathed. “Not again. You can't do this again.”

“I'm afraid I already have,” the commander smirked. “Vzyat' ikh v,” he ordered calmly, and the soldiers picked the couple up and began to shove them out towards the door.

“No!” Kat screamed. “No! Let me go!” She yelled, kicking tables, bookshelves and picture frames as they shoved her out, never looking back.


	18. Kill for You

“This is my fault,” Bucky mumbled. “I shouldn't have gotten you into this. I'm sorry.”

“This isn't your fault,” Kat assured him, giving a small shake of her sore head. “Don't pin this on yourself.”

“As adorable as the pair of you are, and truly, I am moved,” the commander said sarcastically. “We need to see if our soldier still has the skills he had once shown six months ago.”

There were distant sounds of loud screams and fearful cries fading into view as if his words had commanded the prisoners to cry out in agony.

“No,” Bucky breathed, fear clenching his eyes as he looked apprehensively at the door.

The commander smiled. “So smart, this one. Privesti zaklyuchennykh v!” He shouted and the door swung open, carting a chubby balding man with blood smeared across his face, dripping menacingly onto his otherwise pristine white shirt.

He was tossed on the ground with a small outcry of pain that was only met with a swift kick in the face.

The door slammed closed, making Kat wince as she looked into the eyes of the already dead man.

Bucky was freed from his cuffs and the commander held out a gun.

“Kill him,” he said softly. “Naprav'te pistolet yey na golovu!” He shouted and one of the soldiers immediately roughly shoved a gun into Kat’s temple. “Kill him,” he sighed. “Or we kill her.”

Kat looked up at Bucky with wide eyes. “Don't do it,” she whispered and Bucky frowned.

“Kat, they will kill you. They won't hesitate.”

 “I know,” Kat nodded. “But my life is not worth you taking on that guilt again. It's not worth you living each day terrified of what you'll do. I'm not worth it.”

Bucky stared at her in shock, frozen as he was unsure of what to do next.

“Fine, if he does not kill this man,” the commander said, snatching the gun from Bucky’s limp fingers. “Then you will,” he said, tossing the gun to Kat.

The soldier holding a gun to Kat’s head, dropped it and unlocked her cuffs.

“You kill this sad little man, or I kill your boyfriend,” he threatened, holding a gun up to Bucky’s temple.

Kat’s heart stopped and Bucky’s eyes widened.

“Kat-,” he whispered.

Suddenly, there was a loud blast. Like a firework going off in front of all of them. They looked down and saw blood dripping down the back of the nameless man’s head and Kat tossed the gun back to the commander.

“It's no question,” Kat said simply. “He saved my life,” she mumbled with teary eyes.

The commander grinned. “Teper' my znayem, u kogo yest' yaytsa,” the commander muttered as he turned over the gun.

Bucky, however, just stared at Kat with wide eyes. She had just killed for him. She had just taken her first life so that he, a worthless monster, could survive.

He could see the effects of that realization washing over her as her hands began to shake and she looked down at the body with tears slowly dripping down her face.

“What did I just do?” She whispered.

He wanted nothing more than in up to her and wrap his arms around her. He wanted to tell her that everything would be alright even when he knew it wouldn't.

He wanted desperately to comfort he, but as his arm was yanked back by the commander and Kat was put back in her cuffs, he knew it would be awhile before he got to feel her warm hug once again.

“Take her to get the serum,” the commander ordered and Lat and Bucky's hearts both simultaneously stopped.

“What?!” Kat exclaimed. “No!” She screamed. “Let me go!” She cried.

Bucky turned to the commander and wrapped his metal fingers around his throat. “Let her go, now.”

The commander chuckled. “Ah, my dear, soldat,” he sighed. “You kill me and the woman you love dies. Certainly there is no other woman who will love a man with a ledger as red as yours, is there?” He prompted and Bucky loosened his grip but didn't move his fingers. “She is indeed a rare beauty that it would be a shame to see bleeding out on the floor, no.”

“Bucky,” Kat breathed, walking up to him and placing a gentle hand on his arm. “You and I both know we can't kill him. Steve will come. It will be alright.”

“You can't know that,” Bucky mumbled.

“I know Wanda, and I know that if she has any say in it, we’ll be safe. Okay?” Kat prompted.

Bucky took a shaky breath and removed his hand from the commander's throat.

The commander smiled. “Very good. Vzyat' yeye v,” he said to the soldiers and they gripped her arms tightly before dragging her away from him.

“It’ll be okay,” Kat nodded. “I promise.”

~~~

Kat was right about one thing, Wanda had figured out that something was off from the moment she woke up that morning.

She gripped Steve’s hand tightly as she tried to focus on the distressing emotions and their origin.

“Wanda?” Steve breathed, furrowing his eyebrows as he rubbed his girlfriend's back.

“Something's wrong,” she mumbled.

“What is it?”

“Kat,” she whispered. “And Bucky. They are in danger.”

Steve's eyes widened. “Do you know where they are?”

Wanda shook her head. “At this distance I can only feel their fear.”

Steve nodded. “Pack your things. We’re heading back to the tower,” he said, tossing Wanda her shirt as she nodded anxiously.

She hardly saw Steve that tense. It was only in rare moments of battle or when Bucky’s safety was pulled into question that he became anything other than the kind, warm man she knew. Now, he was showing the same concern for Kat as well.

They got packed up and took the quinjet back to the tower, briefing Nat on the situation along the way.

They got back to the tower and immediately darted to the elevator, scouring the base for anybody who may have any idea where Kat and Bucky were.

Eventually, they found Tony sipping a whiskey and heading to the living room tiredly.

“Tony!” Steve exclaimed, releasing his iron grip on Wanda’s hand and bolting up to the inventor.

Tony raised an eyebrow. “Back so soon from your little vacation with Rumlow? Let me guess, it wasn't the same guys from the pics he sent you?” Tony smirked.

Steve rolled his eyes. “Where are Kat and Bucky?”

Tony shrugged. “They're probably off canoodling at her place. She told me they might be a while when they left.”

“Tony, it’s been six hours. Has she at least messaged you?” Steve asked.

“Nope,” Tony sighed as he collapsed onto the couch. “What? Do you want me to race of there in the suit just because they probably fell asleep there? She's a grown woman. She's none of my concern.”

“And he's an ex Hydra agent that killed hundreds of political figures. Do you really expect them to be safe staying out the whole night?” Steve argued and Tony shrugged.

“He's a strong enough guy to hold his own and Kat is tougher than she looks. What do you want from me?”

Steve gave a small sigh of irritation as he raked his fingers through his hair. “You could've at least called them,” he mumbled.

“And hear their private baby-making session?” Tony scoffed. “I think the fuck not.”

Steve rolled his eyes as he marched back to Wanda.

“What do you want to do?” Wanda asked.

Steve sighed and glanced back at Tony. “I think we should drop by Kat’s place. We might be able to figure out what's going on there and at the very least, you might be able to see more.”

Wanda nodded. “Sounds good.”

~~~

Meanwhile, at the Hydra compound, two soldiers carted Kat over to a large machine that looked a lot like the photographs of the one Steve had been in when he first took the serum.

She had a whole chapter in her history textbook at school on the experiment.

She knew the level of pain it could cause and she didn't think Hydra would pay any mind to anesthesia.

Each second that her limp body got close to that machine, the less hope she had that the Avengers would come bumbling in as they usually did and save the day.

Kat took a shaky breath.

She was on her own this time.

She had to look at her options.

If she ran, she would probably be shot. If she tried to fight, she would probably have every bone in her body broken, thus making the serum injection a thousand times more painful. Her only chance of survival with the least amount of pain possible, would be to take the serum.

Needless to say, her situation wasn't feeling too great in that moment.

“Just for the sake of my sanity, how bad will this hurt?” She wondered as they strapped her in.

The two soldiers exchanged grins and amused chuckles and her heart sank.

“Okay, so that means a lot,” she concluded with a nod.

The soldier to her left tossed her a small smirk. “You are smart girl. This will make you much smarter,” he said with a thick Russian accent.

“Yeah, it just might kill me in the process,” Kat mumbled.

“That is the fun in the experiment,” the soldier to her right chuckled.

_Steve, please burst through that door right now. Someone stop them before that needle gets in my arm. Someone save us._

Unfortunately, her prayers were not answered as the soldiers closed the door to the machine, locking her in with her worst fears.

She cried out in pain as the first needle pinched her arm and then dozens of needles followed, pinching into her body one after the other like tiny bee stings along her skin. It was like fire being injected into her veins and she felt her heart race in both fear and an adrenaline rush as the super soldier serum swirled through her blood.

~~~

Wanda and Steve ran into Kat’s house, the first sign of something being wrong noticeable when they looked at the broken down door.

They bolted inside and found dozens of broken frames along the hallway by the door.

As they walked further, they found broken items and a timid, lost golden retriever cowering in the corner behind the sofa.

“This is the work of a madman,” Wanda mumbled as she found a bit of blood on the broken glass of a coffee table.

For a moment, a truly horrific thought passed his mind as he looked around at the damage.

_What if this was all Bucky? What if he lost it and hurt Kat?_

“Steve,” Wanda breathed, clenching the bloody glass tightly between her fingers. “Somebody took them. Soldiers. They look like military but they-,” her eyes widened and her heartbeat thumped loudly in her ears. “Hydra,” she muttered, barely above a whisper.

Anger clenched Steve’s heart. _When will they have enough of him?_ Hydra had taken his best friend from him for years, made his life a living hell and took away all memories of Steve. Why couldn't they just leave him alone? Why did they have to inject more horrors into his mind?

Not only that, but now they had taken another one of Steve’s friends. Someone he thought of like a little sister. Someone who just wanted to be with the man she loved. They took her and who knew what they were doing to the pair of them?

Steve clenched his fist and tightened his jaw.

“Let's go. We’re going to find them immediately, and then we’re going to take out Hydra once and for all,” Steve said.


	19. Let The Games Begin

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> TW: Insinuated possible rape. No rape occurs.

The machine tirelessly chugged the serum into her body and sweat covered every inch of her skin as she fought desperately just to remain conscious. She screamed her throat raw in agony, every part of her body being morphed into something new.

She was being upgraded into the ultimate soldier.

Her screams echoed throughout the compound, ringing in the ears of every Hydra soldier in the building. It caused Bucky physical pain to listen to how much she was hurting and be unable to do anything about it.

It was the cruelest form of torture.

He fought against the bars of his cells, rattling the thick metal as if him breaking it would allow him access to Kat. The soldier guarding him chuckled as he watched Bucky’s pointless attempts at freedom.

“You think you can save her?” The man scoffed. “You are the reason she is here,” he reminded Bucky.

Bucky winced. As if he hasn't been telling himself that for the past thirteen hours.

“Besides, I would be surprised if she even lives past this stage. She is weak.”

Bucky threw himself against the bars and used his metal arm to strangle the soldier.

Kat Hastings was not weak.

She was one of the bravest women he knew and he wasn't going to listen to anyone, especially not some lowlife Hydra soldier, talk about her as if she was nothing.

Dozens of Hydra soldiers bolted over and hit his arm repeatedly like he was an unruly animal reaching too far out of his cage.

He retracted the metal arm and stepped back, breathing heavily as his eyes darted around the prison.

Kat’s screams rang out loud and clear as his mind threw itself into overdrive.

He had to find a way out.

He had to find a way to get to her.

Meanwhile, in the room Kat was in, the three soldiers guarding her machine drank merrily and watched as the young woman threw herself around wildly, terrified of what was flowing through her system.

She grew steadily as the super soldier serum chugged through her veins.

She started the experiment at around 5’2, and was ending it at 5’6. Her muscles and overall strength had grown as well and she felt impenetrable.

While she wasn't exactly unhealthy, by the time the experiment finished, she was glowing with perfect health.

The machine hissed as it completed and sweat shined on Kat’s skin as it opened and she was left panting, her hair damp with sweat.

The men stood up together and eyed her like she was a piece of meat.

If they had seen her as attractive before, she was drop dead gorgeous in that moment.

They didn't care if she was conscious or had been knocked out by the serum. They could see her chest rising and falling and that was all they needed to exchange grim smirks.

The man in the center began to confidently march towards her when the soldier to his right reached out and grabbed his arm.

“Are you sure we can do this?” He breathed. “The commander wants her untainted.”

The man rolled his eyes. “I'm sure he would not mind us giving the new soldier a little trial run,” he grinned. “Now get her top off before they come retrieve her,” he ordered and the man to his left took a shaky breath but nodded anxiously.

They walked towards her arrogantly, like the three musketeers but with poison in their hearts.

The man in the center reached her first and began to slowly reach out his fingertips to graze the smooth skin of her stomach.

That was until her eyes snapped open, clouded with fury and hatred as she wrapped her fingers tightly around the man's wrist.

“Ah, Miss Hastings,” the man chuckled. “As you can see the experiment was a success. You will be reunited with your boyfriend shortly,” he promised before turning to the soldier on his left. “Strap her down,” he muttered.

Kat wasn't thinking in the moment. All she knew was that those men had intended to do what Robert had done years ago, and she wasn't going to let anybody hurt her like that again.

Her eyes appeared almost black as she began to twist the man’s arm counterclockwise menacingly.

His eyes widened as he realized what she was doing.

“Get her off of me!” He yelled to the man on his right who just continued to stare at her in horror.

They had created another monster.

“Slaboumnyy! Get her off of me, now!” He screamed and the man snapped into action trying and failing at getting the soldier’s arm out of her iron grip.

Kat tossed them a smirk, dripping in all the venom they had worn just minutes before.

She twisted the soldier’s arm completely and broke his arm.

He grave a throaty cry of pain. “You fucking bitch!” He yelled, gripping his arm tightly.

She tilted her head curiously at the man before kicking him swiftly in the chest, sending him crashing into the cement wall. The wall cracked around the impact of his skull and he fell to the ground with a thud.

Kat glanced down at her restraints and easily snapped them off easily to the horror of the two remaining soldiers.

The soldier to her right tried to step forward, gripping his gun as he knew it was his duty to stop her, or at least restrain her again, before she could escape. He held up his gun and she glared at him before punching him roughly in the face. He fell to the ground, his cheek slapping against the cold flooring as she stepped out of the machine. She grabbed his gun and cocked it before shooting him in the head, without a shadow of doubt.

Kat heard the crash of some machinery to her left and turned curiously to find the final soldier stumbling as he desperately tried to escape out the back exit. She held up her gun and he gasped before holding his hands up in surrender.

“I'm sorry! I'm sorry!” He cried.

Kat tilted her head at him, narrowing her eyes before scoffing and shaking her head.

“No, you're not,” she mumbled.

“No, no, please-!” He screamed just before she put a bullet right between his eyes.

She glanced around at the fallen bodies and at the new skin she walked around in in utter awe of the miracle science had produced.

She felt taller.

~~~

Back at the tower, Maria Hill and Natasha Romanov scoured the monitors for any abnormalities.

“It doesn't have to be just any abandoned building in Brooklyn,” Steve reminded them. “We need to search the major cities. Hydra would want a base there. Then we need to check the abandoned buildings in each of those. We also need unregistered vehicles on the streets. Anything that might be the slightest bit off.”

“Steve,” Maria said. “Breathe.”

Steve took deep breaths as Wanda wrapped her arms around him.

We’ll find them. They can't be too far and we’ve already got a list of possible places.”

“I just don't want to find them after Hydra has already gotten inside their heads,” Steve mumbled. “I can't lose him again.”

“Kat is tough as nails, Cap. She can hold her own even if the tin man struggles. I guarantee we'll find them both in one piece,” Tony promised.

“Don't make promises you can't keep, Tony,” Nat warned. “We’ll find them. I can promise you that, I'm not sure what condition they'll be in though.”

Steve took a shaky breath. “It would be nice if we could find them before twenty-four hours if at all possible.”

“Well, Cap, it just very well may be,” Maria smirked. “I've got a seven-story building. It’s been abandoned for six months but got a handy little repainting and repair in December. Eye witness accounts say a group of men have been entering and exiting the building since January. They thought they were squatters, but-.”

 “It's Hydra,” Steve grinned. “We have to go,” he said, already starting to march out.

“Hang on there, Cap. We can't just go storming in there,” Tony reminded him. “Get the quinjet ready, we don't know who or what we’ll be going up against.”

“It is just some Hydra men. What is the issue?” Wanda wondered and Steve glared at Tony.

“He thinks we’ll have to fight Bucky and Kat."


	20. Unstoppable

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Okay, so I know technically speaking in the MCU Wanda's powers haven't evolved enough to the point where she could communicate with a mind from a distance, but for this instance let's pretend that they have because this is the only way I wanted the story to progress so pretend it's canonically accurate.
> 
> Also, Happy Halloween!

Kat scoured the building for Bucky, desperate to find him and get the hell out of there.

With each soldier that passed she collected more weapons but lost more hope that she would ever locate her boyfriend.

One man passed in a bulletproof vest with a large gun and she flashed a quick smile at him. He politely did the same before freezing to do a double take as he looked back at her.

She tripped him so he went flying forwards onto his face before jumping onto his back, placing her feet on his wrists as she pulled back his hair.

“Where are you keeping Bucky Barnes?!” She shouted and he laughed.

“You'll be lucky if the pair of you make it out of here alive,” he muttered and she shoved his face onto the ground, making blood pour out of his nose.

“Wrong answer!” She yelled.

She held her gun up to the back of his head. “Tell me where he is or I blast your head off.”

“Nice try, sweetheart.”

She shot his arm. “Say that again?”

“Ow! You bitch!”

“Tell me where he is or you die and I ask the next soldier that comes along.”

“I don't know!” He screamed. “And even if I did I would tell you, you fucking whore.”

“Thanks,” she mumbled and shot him in the back of the head.

She hopped off him and marched down the hallway. “Where are you, Bucky?” She whispered.

There were dozens of doors along the corridor and he could've been behind any of them. She couldn't exactly call out to him with hundreds of Hydra soldiers in the building. She could take on a few, but if ten or twenty started racing towards her she would be dead in seconds.

She just had to hope they wouldn't kill him.

She heard a sharp gasp and turned to see an unarmed soldier staring at the few bodies she had left in her wake.

“Shit,” she breathed.

His footsteps echoed loudly down the tiled hallways and she bolted after him, pulling out a small blade she had stolen from one of the soldiers she killed.

She slid down the hallway, praying she could catch him before he alerted any of the other soldiers.

He approached a large red button on the wall and her heart stopped as he flipped the glass casing off of the button.

He glanced back at her and her grip tightened on the blade as he slapped his hand down on the button, sending sirens wailing throughout the building.

She threw the blade and it hit his hand as he cried out in pain, but it wasn't enough. She heard boots marching along the hallways and her heart thrummed loudly in her ears as her mind raced with a solution.

Kat's heart sank into her stomach as she realized she would have to leave Bucky behind.

She took a deep breath as she looked at the armies storming towards her from her right and left.

She checked her gun. She only had six bullets left and there were dozens of Hydra soldiers making their way towards her. She sighed and cocked the gun, putting two bullets in the back of the man who raised the alarm.

Kat turned to the armies and fired one shot, but it bounced helplessly off of a helmet.

She narrowed her eyes at the armor and smirked when she looked down at their boots. She shot at their feet causing them to stumble and trip over themselves, thus making other soldiers behind them do the same.

When she only had one bullet left, she took a deep breath and turned to the glass window behind her. She put the gun in the waistband of her shorts and let out a deep sigh. She had to remind herself that this was the only way to survive. If she didn't jump through the glass, she would be shot down or have her memory wiped and she would never be able to save Bucky.

Kat took one last look back at the soldiers before running up to the large glass window.

She used her arms to shield her face as the glass crackled and smashed around her, shattering to pieces as she broke through while dozens of bullets flew through the air around her. She felt like the world had slowed down and she was in an action movie. She smirked as gravity began to take hold and she started to fall three stories into a large dumpster.

When she landed, she had a rather large yet smelly trash bag comforting her on her landing.

She groaned and clutched her head, analyzing the damage the glass had done to her body. Luckily, due to the super soldier serum, it was nothing a couple band aids and ice couldn't fix.

She sighed and climbed out of the dumpster, peering back at the building warily.

There was no way she could go back in with the building on red alert. She’d have to find some way to get a message to the Avengers.

She trudged to the curb and smoothed back her hair. She probably looked like a psychopath, but in that moment, she needed to call a cab.

~~~

The Avengers arrived at the building and started exiting the quinjet when Wanda gasped and clutched her head.

Kat,” she breathed. “She said to tell Bucky she’s sorry.”

Steve frowned. “What's that supposed to mean?”

Wanda shrugged. “She is very scared and lost.”

“Well, we’ll find her,” Steve nodded. “Come on.”

They marched out of the quinjet and entered the building.

They walked along the long hallways cautiously, unsure of what they would find when Tony whistled and waved them into a dimly lit security room.

“Look at this,” he mumbled, gesturing to black and white cameras depicting dozens of shoulders laying across the corridors of the third floor, either dead or groaning in pain clutching some injured part of their body. “One of your kids is out of their cage and none too happy.”

“Steve,” Wanda whispered. “I think it’s Kat.”

“What makes you think that?” Steve asked.

“Bucky is still in his cage.”

Steve's eyes widened and he bolted over to Wanda’s monitor to see that she was right. Bucky was sitting in a small cage, wringing his hands anxiously, unaware of the mayhem outside.

Steve took a deep breath and ran his fingers through his hair. “Okay, I'll go get him. You two find Kat. Restrain her if you have to, but bring her back to the quinjet.”

They both nodded and Steve took a deep breath before walking out. If he was honest, he was happy they hadn't turned Bucky into the soldier again. He loved Kat, but he didn't know if he could take seeing Bucky be turned into that again and being forced to fight him. He barely survive the last time.

Meanwhile, Wanda turned to Tony anxiously, pulling her sleeves over her hands.

“I don't think we will be able to find her,” Wanda admitted once she was sure Steve was out of earshot.

“Aw, come on, kid. Have a little faith,” Tony smirked.

“No, it's not that,” Wanda shook her head. “She left me a message. She said to tell Bucky she is sorry.”

Tony frowned. “What do you think that means?”

“I think she has run away.”

Tony sighed. “Let's ask some of the guys she injured, maybe she's just in hiding. Maybe, she was just sorry that she couldn't save him,” he shrugged.

Wanda nodded and followed Tony, willing to go along with his plan but unsure they would find anything she didn't already know.

~~~

Kat walked out of the cab and the cabbie rolled down the window.

“Hey, bitch! You have to pay me!” He hollered.

Kat rolled her eyes and turned back to him, aiming her gun at his head. “I've had a really long day and I'd be more than happy to use the last bullet in here on you.”

His eyes widened and he looked like he swallowed his gum.

She raised an eyebrow at him and he sped off muttering something about how she was a, “crazy bitch,” as he left.

She smirked and marched into the motel.

Behind the counter there was a tired old man, each breath raspy and loud enough to be heard outside the building. She flashed him a kind smile as she walked up and placed her gun on the counter as she looked up at the billboard above him for the cost of a one night stay.

His eyes fixated on the gun and she was unable to hear his breathing afterwards.

“Don't worry, sir. I wouldn't dare hurt you,” she said, placing a soft comforting hand on his wrinkly old one. “However, I don't have money. As you can see I've had a rather long day and I think some men will be after me that won't be as kind. Is it alright if I stay here for one night just to get washed up? I promise I'll pay you back someday.”

He smiled at her. “You remind me of my granddaughter,” he cracked and she grinned.

“You remind me of my grandparents,” she told him softly.

“Don't worry about the cost, love. I'll take care of everything for you. In fact, if you'd like, you can borrow some of my granddaughter's clothes,” he said, eyeing her bloody outfit. “It may be a bit more comfortable.”

Kat smiled, feeling her heart swell with love for the generous old man. “Thank you so much.”

“Anything for such a sweet young girl going through a hard time,” he nodded.

~~~

Tony and Wanda headed back to the quinjet without Kat in their hands, unsure of where on Earth she may have run off to. They argued for a while over who would tell Bucky and Steve the news before the burden eventually fell on Wanda’s shoulders.

Steve and Bucky trudged into the quinjet and Wanda wiped away a stray tear as she ran up to the men.

“Let’s get the fuck out of here,” Bucky groaned and Steve chuckled as his friend collapsed onto one of the empty seats.

“Steve,” Wanda mumbled and Steve frowned at her.

“Wanda? What is it? What's wrong?” He asked, concern for his girlfriend enveloping the pit of his stomach.

“Where's Kat?” Bucky asked and Wanda sniffled.

“Wanda?” Steve prompted. “What happened? Where's Kat?”

Bucky’s eyes flashed and he stood up, marching to the young witch. “I'm not leaving her behind so tell me where the hell she is.”

“She said,” Wanda wiped away a tear. “She said to tell you that she is sorry.”

“What the hell is that supposed to mean?!” Bucky exclaimed.

“It means that your girlfriend killed half the soldiers in the goddamn compound and jumped through a window. She ran and she wants us to leave her behind, which is exactly what we’re going to do,” Tony said, starting up the quinjet.

“The hell we are!” Bucky shouted, marching towards the exit.

“Buck, stop!” Steve yelled, trying to grab his friend's arm as the desperate man pressed a button by the door so he could jump out.

“Steve, I'm not leaving without her!” Bucky screamed. “She's saved my life more times than I can count and I'm not risking hers!”

“She wants to be alone!” Wanda cried and the two men turned to her with wide eyes.

“What?” Bucky breathed.

“The super soldier serum. They put in her and she changed. She’s scared and she wants to be alone so she doesn't hurt anybody,” Wanda explained.

“What about me?” Bucky mumbled. “Did she ever think about that?”

“She said, ‘tell Bucky I'm sorry’,” Wanda replied forlornly.


	21. Around the World

The day Kat left for the first time was the hardest. She had nobody to hold her hand and tell her she would be safe or that she would be happy.

Wanda had told her Bucky was safe and she knew the future was in her own hands.

She had a responsibility to figure out who she was. She had a new body and had murdered for the first time.

She had changed.

If she ever came back to the Avengers, she wanted to be confident in who she was and her abilities. She didn't want to depend on Bruce’s experiments to figure out what she could do.

She headed out of her room and the old man gave her a smile as he scribbled something on a sheet of paper.

He tore away the paper and his shaking fingers held out the small slip of paper to her.

“Take it,” he said and her eyes widened.

She shook her head. “I couldn't,” she breathed and he rolled his eyes.

“Please. You come into my motel bloody and spouting some words about men chasing you. Now, you're leaving and I assume you have no family to go to?” He prompted and she shook her head.

“And you're certainly not going to the police,” he assumed and she shook her head again.

He nodded. “As I thought. Then, it's decided. I would be a sour old man if I didn't give this to you.”

She took the check and her heart stopped. The check was written for half a million dollars.

“There’s no way I can take this,” she insisted, trying to hand the check back to him, but he just held up a hand.

“Consider it an early Christmas present.”

“It's March,” she smiled softly.

“Lord knows if I’ll ever see you again, dear. I may never be able to grant my inheritance to the one young girl who has treated me with nothing but kindness.”

“What about your granddaughter?”

He scoffed. “Oh, she's got some rich new husband in the Hamptons. You deserve this.”

She smiled softly. “Thank you so much,” she said.

Kat walked over and gave him a tight hug. “I don't deserve a friend like you.”

“Oh, my dear,” he sighed, placing a wrinkled hand on her back. “I am exactly what you need right now. Now, come. I have a Halloween stash somewhere and I may be able to get you a black wig that could suit you.”

She looked up at him with a small confused frown.

“Well, I presume you must go on the run from these men, yes?”

“Oh!” Kat exclaimed and he rolled his eyes.

“Children these days,” he mumbled. “So careless with their safety.”

Kat giggled and followed him to storage happily, storing the check safely in her bags.

~~~

Once the old man fashioned her with a beautiful long black wig, she worked for a few hours on making it look realistic before heading out, waving goodbye to the kind old man.

Kat got the check cashed before heading to the airport.

She prayed Wanda would cover for her whenever her passport was used. She didn't want the Avengers finding her and dragging her back home. She had to do this on her own.

She booked her first ticket to Paris.

When she was a little girl her mom had given her all the places in the world that they should see together after Kat finished college. Her mother had dreamt of traveling the world and knew that her daughter deserved to see different countries growing up.

Thus they created the Hastings trip around the world.

The cities included; Paris, Istanbul, Dublin, Rome, Belgium, and Barcelona.

Unfortunately, the year that trip was supposed to take place, the car crash occurred.

Now, Kat would go on that trip on her own, hopefully figuring out who she was along the way.

**April**

“Come on!” Steve exclaimed. “How hard is this? She's one girl!”

“What, finding one girl out of seven billion people? It's pretty damn hard, Cap,” Tony sighed.

“When I first became an Avenger, you guys found Loki in half an hour.”

“Yeah, and it took us six months to find the tin man over their,” Tony reminded him, gesturing to Bucky who was staring numbly at a wall. “It all depends on how bad she wants to be found.”

“But I heard them. We had a couple matches already,” Steve reasoned.

“Yeah, we've had a couple lookalikes but nothing has been over 50% when we run a match,” he chuckled. “I swear, we had this girl with dark hair in Paris who was a dead ringer but she only came in a 47%.”

Steve sighed. “Okay, well tell them to keep searching. I'm gonna go talk to him.”

Tony snorted. “Good luck getting anything out of him. Couple hours ago I asked him if he wanted something to eat and he just gave me this vacant stare. I swear, it was enough to send chills up my spine.”

Steve rolled his eyes and headed over to his best friend. He clapped him on the back as he sat down beside him. “Hey, buddy, how ya holding up?”

Bucky just glared at him and got up.

“Hey, Buck, listen, I'm sorry.”

Bucky turned to him and let out a shaky breath. “I could've gone after her. I could've been with her right now, but you stopped me.”

Steve swallowed harshly. “I'm sorry. I was selfish. I just didn't want to lose my best friend again,” he admitted. He eyed Bucky warily. “So, she really was the one wasn't she?”

Bucky nodded, sighing deeply as she raked his fingers through his hair. “Yeah, she was.”

~~~

Meanwhile, on a dark street in Paris two girls stood side by side ordering ice cream from The Smith’s Bakery.

“Merci beaucoup,” the woman with long dark hair smiled as the man gave her her change.

“Catherine, I do not understand,” the blonde girl with the pixie cut by her side hummed. “You arrived here just last month. Why must you go?”

Kat sighed. “I told you, Alice. I cannot stay in one place for too long.”

Alice rolled her eyes. “I get that, but I do not know why.”

Kat smiled and turned to her friend, cupping her cheek softly. “If I told you, you would think I am esprit malsain or you may be in danger as well. I'd rather not risk your life for my reckless behavior.”

Alice sighed. “Okay, but can I at least help you pack? I cannot believe you are going to Istanbul,” she grinned. “I have always wanted to go.”

“Maybe, one day I'll come back and take you with me, but for now I must do this on my own,” Kat said as she unlocked her large apartment and tossed her keys absentmindedly on the table.

She had taken on jobs in gyms and restaurants in Paris to continue adding to the money the kind old man had given her.

Kat took the jobs under a false name, so the Avengers couldn't look her up and immediately figure out that Katherine Hastings was residing Paris. To everyone in Paris, she was Catherine Russell, the girl from America who was seeking a quiet life in Paris.

Only Alice knew the truth.

She had met the girl while working late hours in a restaurant. The two were waitressing and while they had never crossed paths before, that all changed the night a man that had far too much wine started flirting with her and shoved his hand down her skirt. Kat saved her and kicked the man out, telling their boss what had happened and he insisted that the girls take the rest of the night off while he closed up. Ever since then they had grown extremely close. Alice helped Kat to perfect her French and Kat told Alice about the boyfriend she had left back home.

When the two grew close enough, Kat eventually trusted her with her secret. And now she was leaving the young blonde behind.

“How many days do you have left?” Alice asked.

“Until the end of the week,” Kat mumbled.

“Catherine, I hope you have a wonderful time on your journey,” Alice grinned and Kat smiled at the woman.

That was what Kat loved about the girl. She was always so optimistic, she brought light and hope to every day. Kat was going to miss her more than anything.

“I'll try to write to you when I can. I can't promise everyday but I will send a letter now and then,” Kat said and Alice grinned.

“I don't need it,” Alice assured her. “Just take lots of pictures and when you are safe you will send me a very long letter about anything and everything you saw.”

Kat smiled. “It's a deal. Now, come on. Do not be a cul paresseux and help me pack.”

Alice laughed and jumped off the sofa to help her friend.

**May**

After two months and no sign of Kat, the Avengers grew antsy and Bucky had secluded himself to his room, talking to nobody. Not even Steve. Occasionally, Wanda would wander in his room at night and give him beautiful dreams of walking around in Paris with Kat. After hearing his desperate thoughts about her, she felt she had no choice but to calm his mind, even if it was only possible in his dreams.

Tony sighed as he paced the surveillance room, littered with pictures of Kat and her lookalikes. They had recently found a girl on Istanbul with brown hair in a bun and glasses that rang up a 53% match. Stark and many of the agents were still wary of going after a girl that was only 53%.

Her disappearance was taking a toll on everybody. The only one that seemed unaffected was Natasha. She walked into the room and sat down on the small steps, watching Tony with an amused grin.

“You know she's gonna start getting smarter about hiding from us,” Nat told him. “The more time that passes the less likely we are to find her.”

“Thanks for the vote of confidence, Nat,” Tony mumbled bitterly.

“I'm just saying, at this point we’re more likely to find Thor on one of those monitors than we are to find her.”

“I sent out a couple of agents to the places where her lookalikes showed up, but so far no dice,” Tony said.

“She's a smart girl, Tony. Have you ever stopped to consider that maybe she’ll come back when she wants to? You don't have to drag her in kicking and screaming.”

“Yeah, tell that to Cap and Bucky,” Tony sighed.

“I have and Cap agrees with me. Bucky just stared vacantly at a wall,” she frowned. “You should give it a rest. After all, a watched pot never boils.”

Tony rolled his eyes as she walked out. “Just so you know I never understood that phrase!” He called.

“I don't expect you to!” Nat replied.

~~~

Kat smiled sweetly as she swung her bag of groceries around in boredom. Her friend and mentor for what to do and how to respect the culture in Istanbul ran up behind her.

“Kader!” He called. “I hear you are leaving soon. How long do you have left?”

Kat giggled. “Selim, you say that like I'm dying. I'm just going to Dublin. I will be here for another week.”

“Aptal kız,” he sighed, shaking his head and Kat rolled her head. “Why didn't you tell me?”

“I told you my time here would be short,” Kat shrugged.

“Kader, when I think short I do not think three weeks I think a month or so.”

“Clearly, you have a very big definition of short,” Kat mumbled.

“Ah, what am I going to do without you? Your beautiful sarcasm is the only reason I have survived these çılgın insanlar,” he sighed and Kat snorted.

“Are you sure that's the only reason?”

“Yes, of course!” He exclaimed.

Kat rolled her eyes. “Come on, let's go out to dinner and I'll tell you why I have to leave so soon.”

“Alright, but if you don't have a very good reason, I'm keeping you all to myself.”

Kat grinned. “Trust me. It's a very good reason.”

**June**

As summer arrived, they resigned themselves to never finding Kat. The only problem was convincing Bucky of the same thing.

“Look, Buck,” Steve sighed. “We just think that if she wanted our help she would've come back by now.”

“What if she put herself in danger because of me? What if she's hurt and can't get back?”

“Buck, you gotta stop blaming yourself for this. She even said it herself before she left. She doesn't wanna hurt you. She just wants to figure out some things for herself. Us chasing her down is only making her more scared and sending her all over the map when she should be staying in one place.”

“I'm the reason she did this,” Bucky mumbled.

“No, you're not. Hydra is the reason she did this.”

“And if she hadn't been with me-.”

“Which never would've happened,” Steve smirked. “You two were made for each other. I know this is hard for you, but give her some time. She'll come back. If anything, she would never leave you behind.”

A small voice cleared her throat from the doorway. They turned to see Wanda standing there awkwardly fingering a small piece of paper.

“I saw Bucky was having bad dreams and I have something to help.”

“What is it?” Steve wondered.

“It's a letter from Kat.”

“Wanda, you've been in contact with Kat?!” Steve exclaimed. “What-?”

“She trusted me to keep her safe if you ever found anything about where she was. She knew that one day you would see that she needs to be alone.”

Steve still seemed upset at the secret but he sighed and nodded.

Bucky snatched the letter from Wanda and his eyes raked it desperately.

_Dear Bucky,_

_Wanda tells me that you’re sulking in your room and having bad dreams because I left._

_Please don't do that to yourself._

_You've made so much progress over the past year, I don't want to see that lost just because of me._

_I'm not worth the loss of all that improvement._

_I don't know when I'll be back, but please know that I would never abandon you for good._

_However, I've met so many incredible people so far and I don't want to give that up just yet._

_I mean, in the past two months I've been to Paris and Istanbul, and right now I'm on a plane to Ireland._

_How amazing is that?!_

_So, please, don't be upset over me. I promise I'll come back._

_I could never stop loving you._

_Until then,_

_Kat_

_xo_

Bucky smiled as he put down the letter. _She still loved him._ That was all he needed to feel okay until she came back. Kat Hastings was still madly in love with Bucky Barnes.


	22. Wolves

Over the next few months, Kat traveled the world and mindlessly searched for comfort and happiness with the new girl Hydra had forced her to become.

However, as time passed she constantly had the nagging feeling that something was missing. It wasn't until she woke up from a wonderful dream in Rome that she figured out what it was.

She missed Bucky.

That night she had dreamed of being back with him, running away from all the chaos and countless precautions set forth by the Avengers and just living with him.

She sat up with a sigh.

She had to get back to Bucky.

Kat got dressed and marched down the steps of the large worn down building.

She had resided with an old woman that was apparently the sister of the man she met in New York not too long ago. The woman had been more than happy to open one of her many rooms to Kat so long as Kat kept the place clean and didn't have loud parties like many of the children along the street.

“Señora Moretti!” Kat called.

“Buon figlio di mattina!” Señora Moretti grinned as she walked out of the kitchen.

“I'm leaving,” Kat sighed as she grabbed her suitcase from the living room and tossed her miscellaneous belongings into it.

Señora Moretti’s smile fell. “Before breakfast?” She prompted.

“No, I'll be staying for breakfast, ma’am, but I need to go back to New York,” Kat explained with a sad smile.

“Perché vuoi tornare a quella discarica con il mio fratello idiota?” Señora Moretti snapped and Kat sighed.

“Because I have to see Bucky again,” Kat mumbled.

“Chi diavolo è Bucky?!” She exclaimed, tossing her spatula onto the counter. “Faccio la cena ogni giorno e lei lascia per un uomo chiamato Bucky! Che tipo di nome è comunque Bucky?! Gli americani non hanno rispetto!” She yelled and Kat giggled.

“Señora, Bucky is my boyfriend. And Bucky is his middle name. His full name is James Buchanan Barnes. I'm leaving because I have left him alone for far too long. I respect and admire you for taking me into your home and showing me such love and kindness but I have to go.”

“Are you staying in that dumpster my brother calls New York?”

“Probably,” Kat shrugged. “I don't think I have another choice right now.”

Señora Moretti took a deep breath and eyed Kat warily as she grabbed a couple of biscotti and put them on a plate for the young girl.

“You will take my home in Romania.”

“What?!” Kat exclaimed. “No, I couldn't.”

“Nonsense,” Señora Moretti sighed, waving her hand to dismiss the matter. “My brother and I are the children of big imprenditores. They own many hotels here. My brother headed to America to continue the family business. We have more than enough money to spare for a kind child in need and her boyfriend.”

Kat smiled. “Thank you so much.”

“It's not a problem, now eat. You work out far too much. You need to eat.”

Kat grinned. “Thank you, Señora.”

“I will pack your bags. Do not worry.”

~~~

Eleven hours and a lot of caffeine later, Kat landed in New York.

It was around midnight by the time Kat landed in New York, but she only had one destination in mind.

It was around that time she was grateful for New York bearing the title ‘the city that never sleeps’. She knew that in all the other cities she had visited, she would be hard pressed to find a cab at midnight, but in New York, she was able to call a cab within a couple minutes.

Kat snapped at the cabbie to take her to Avengers Headquarters and step on it.

After the man behind the wheel gave her a funny look, he stomped on the gas and sped through the traffic to the tall tower, looming over the city, great and powerful compared to the lowly civilians below.

She tossed the money to the cab driver and told him to leave the meter running as she headed inside.

When she got through the double doors, the security guard was asleep at his post, snoring loudly.

Kat snorted and smacked his chest.

“Larry! Look alive will you?!” She giggled.

He jolted forwards and his eyes widened when he saw her. “Kat?” He squinted. “You're back?”

“Officially? No, but I need to see Bucky,” Kat sighed. “So, let me through will you?”

Larry rolled his eyes. “Lucky bastard, he is. I knew I should've grabbed you when I had the chance.”

Kat laughed.  “No offense, bit against him or was no contest.”

Larry sighed. “All the more reason, to start going to the gym.”

Kat rolled her eyes with a small playful smirk dancing across her lips. “I'll see you later, Larry.”

“Yeah, yeah, yeah, wake me up when you dump the soldier and are ready to have a real man,” he grinned arrogantly.

Kat snorted and waved goodbye to him before heading into the elevator and pressing the button she had hit dozens of times on her way to sessions with Bucky.

The elevator dinged announcing her arrival and she almost wanted to tell it to audibly shush. She didn't want anybody but Bucky awake.

Kat tiptoed down the hallways, aware of every sound coming from her body. She slowly approached the door that lead to Bucky’s room and smiled softly. She never thought she would see that room again.

She turned the doorknob cautiously and the door creaked open.

The room was completely dark.

She flicked the light switch in the bathroom so some soft orangey lights could dance across the bedroom and illuminate her way to Bucky’s bed.

Kat took a deep breath and marched towards Bucky’s sleeping form. She hated herself for interrupting what seemed to be a delightful dream, but she had a feeling that he wanted to see her just as much as she wanted to see him. Kat walked over and gently tapped his shoulder.

She felt his body stiffen beneath her fingertips.

“Bucky,” she whispered.

Within seconds, before Kat could ever process what was happening, Bucky’s hands were around her throat, backing her into a wall.

Kat automatically started hitting his head. It helps being a skilled doctor when your boyfriend had gone through trauma that might result in him trying to kill you. She knew that the easiest way to get him back was to force his brain into damage that knocks his memories back into place. “Bucky, don't do this,” she choked and his eyes widened.

His blue eyes softened momentarily before he dropped her to the ground with a thud.

“Oh, God,” he breathed. “It's still in me. All of it. It's still in me.”

“Stop that, Bucky. I woke you up when you were sleeping. It's easy to be on edge after everything that happened,” Kat reasoned.

Bucky did a double take as he saw her fallen body laying on the ground. “Kat,” he whispered, the realization dawning on him. “Is this a dream?”

Kat grinned. “No, I'm here to take you with me this time.”

Bucky frowned. “What do you mean? Look at what I just did, I-,” he began to ramble desperately and she smiled sweetly as she placed a finger on his lips.

“You acted on instinct. You have nothing to be ashamed of. I would’ve done the same thing if I was you.”

Bucky took a shaky breath and looked down at her body. She looked so different from the terrified small girl that had been thrown into Hydra. He marveled at how she had somehow managed to grow even more beautiful than she had been when she first left him.

Her hair, which was now much longer after months of not cutting it, held gorgeous waves and natural highlights that she had attained after months of working out in the sun. The beautiful brown hair with blonde highlights fell just past her shoulder but was contained in a ponytail.

She brushed her bangs out of her eyes and Bucky’s attention fell on not only how much she had grown, but her beautiful tan and gorgeous new body. She had clearly been working out enough to maintain the form Hydra had forced her into, and Bucky couldn't help but admire it.

“As much as I love the staring,” Kat sighed and Bucky’s cheeks pinkened. “We have to go. Steve gets up at like three in the morning, which is insane but somehow he does it, and I don't want anybody catching us as we leave.”

“What do you mean?” Bucky frowned.

Kat sighed and looked at the door anxiously. Clearly, she had been hoping she could just greet Bucky and leave without explaining herself. However, Bucky didn't want to just leave the people who had been there for him in the months she was missing without a good explanation.

“Hydra changed me. You know that. I mean you spent a good minute staring at what Hydra changed me into,” Kat remarked and Bucky blushed once again. “But I felt something in me change as well. I don't feel entirely the same and I thought that meant I should never come back here, but then I realized something was missing. That something is you,” she smiled. “Without you around, I felt like a piece of me was missing. I need you with me, but I don't think I want to be around the Avengers. I love them and they're family, but I don't know if I can handle them testing me or being wary of me because they don't know exactly what I can do. I just want to be with you.”

Bucky watched her sadly, in love with all the new gestures and mannerisms she had adopted, but feeling as though he had been kicked in the gut when she said she couldn't stay with the Avengers.

“I can't leave Steve,” Bucky breathed and Kat felt her heart shatter.

“Are you saying you don't want to leave then?”

“No, I want to. Believe me, I want to, but he's been on his own for too long. I can't leave him again.”

Kat took a deep breath and turned, fighting back tears that had formed in her eyes. She didn't want to leave on her own again. She needed Bucky by her side.

“Technically, he's got Wanda by his side,” Kat reasoned. “Before, he wasn't dating anybody. According to Nat he had even refused to at times, but now he is,” Kat signed, watching him cautiously. She tried to read his face and uncover any signs that showed he was willing to go with her, but finding none, she took a deep breath and continued. “I think, having you by his side right now is great, but he has Wanda too. So, he wouldn't be completely alone this time.”

Bucky sucked in a sharp breath and raked his fingers through his hair. “Where would we even go?” He wondered.

Kat’s eyes flashed joyfully. _He’s considering it._ She took a deep breath. “Over the past few months, I met a bunch of people. This woman, Señora Moretti, she offered to let us stay in her home in Romania.”

“So, what? We just leave without saying a word? What if they think Hydra came back?”

“I was gonna leave a note for Wanda.”

“I don't know,” Bucky sighed, shaking his head as he collapsed onto his bed. “It seems like too big of a risk.”

“Bucky, do you want to run away with me?” Kat asked softly.

Bucky looked up at her with his dazzling blue eyes and Kat felt her heart skip a beat. She missed his effortless beauty.

“More than anything,” he admitted and she grinned, feeling her heart melt in her chest.

“Then do it,” she whispered.

Within a second, his lips had captured her and his tongue had found its way into her mouth. It took her a second to respond, but when she cost, he pressed her back into a wall and she sighed as she tasted coffee on his breath.

Suddenly, his lips were everywhere, gliding along her jaw and working their way down her back as she wrapped her legs as around his waist, grinding her center against his far too tight sweatpants. She moaned as Bucky, bit, nipped and sucked along her slender neck.

When he pulled away to take heavy breaths, she smiled softly and cupped his cheek. “I think you found your answer,” she whispered and his eyes sparkled as he smirked at her.

~~~

They left the Tower, half an hour later and as much as Kat would've liked to be angry, she couldn't help but grin like an idiot as she and Bucky walked out hand in hand.

Larry grumbled about them waking him up while Kat was still on a relationship which made Bucky clench his jaw and grip Kat’s hand tighter despite her laughing and assuring him it was nothing.

They headed out to the cab and the cabbie turned to her with an arrogant smirk slapped across his face. “You're gonna have a lot to pay, princess,” he warned and she rolled her eyes.

“Just drive us to the airport."


	23. Four Months Later

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I know I'm doing a lot of time lapses, sorry, but on the bright side, I'm now writing Civil War!

**Four Months Later**

After Bucky and Kat fled to Romania, they took the time to finally feel like a normal couple and spend all the time together that they missed when they were in the Avengers tower.

It was fairly difficult to maintain a normal relationship when one of them was supposed to be fighting against brainwashing that had been ingrained in him for seventy years.

Months passed and it seemed they had temporarily forgotten the possibility that Hydra may come back for them or the Avengers may track them down.

Little did they know, in the months after they left the Avengers tower had descended into utter chaos.

First, Thor showed up out of nowhere. He claimed he couldn’t stay long, but instead just needed Banner to help him.

Before anybody could actually ask him what he needed help with, he left to Asgard.

Then, Wanda went on a mission with; Steve, Nat, and Sam, and true madness unleashed.

It was supposed to be a quick mission. They would train Wanda and show her what she needed, stop whatever Rumlow was planning, and get out before any fatalities could be attributed to them.

That was before Rumlow mentioned Bucky.

Before Wanda thought of saving her boyfriend’s life before thinking about what she was doing.

By the time she realized the damage she had caused: it was too late.

Kat turned on the news that afternoon to find citizens of Wakanda speaking out about the attack of the Avengers.

Originally, she figured it had been a Hydra attack and decided to keep watching in the hopes of finding more out about their plans.

That was, until she saw the cell phone footage of her best friend using her powers to toss Rumlow into a hospital, causing the hospital to explode and killing everyone inside.

Kat’s heart stopped when she saw the fire.

“Bucky!” Kat called. “Bucky!”

“We’re out of plums!” Bucky exclaimed, from the kitchen.

Kat rolled her eyes. “We might have something bigger to worry about right now.”

“You said the plums will help me regain my memories,” Bucky frowned. “Isn’t that number one priority?”

“It was,” Kat nodded. “Until this happened.” She waved him over to the TV and rewinded it so he could see Wanda propelling him into the top of the hospital.

“Was that Rumlow?” Bucky muttered and Kat nodded.

“I think so.”

“Wanda killed him?” Bucky guessed.

“As well as hundreds of other Wakandan patients according to their king,” Kat said.

“Shit,” Bucky breathed and Kat nodded.

“Yup.”

“Do you think we should go back?” Bucky asked, eying Kat warily. While he knew his friends needed him in that moment, he didn’t want to leave that wonderfully peaceful atmosphere he had with Kat.

It felt like the dreams he’d had in the months before they started dating were finally coming to life, and he didn’t want to give them up yet.

Kat took a shaky breath. “I don’t know. Part of me wants to help Wanda, but the selfish part of me doesn’t want to leave right now. I mean, we’ve only had a few months together.”

“That’s what I was thinking,” Bucky nodded. “We’re awful people, aren’t we?”

“No,” Kat shook her head firmly as she turned off the TV. “We’re not. All my life I have been desperate for some sort of normalcy and I’m finally getting it. I don’t think that makes me terrible if I want to hang onto this.”

“What about me? You, Steve, and Wanda are the only three that were really good to me after Hydra, and then I just went and abandoned two of the only three people  know I can trust.”

“Bucky, you’re not a bad person. I told you honestly, I don’t feel comfortable living in the avengers tower, treating everybody and pretending like nothing changed after Hydra. I love you and I didn’t want to live without you, but if you wanted to stay with them, I wouldn’t hate you. You made a choice and they respected that choice. Just because we see that they’re now in trouble and want to hold off from rushing to their side doesn’t make us the worst people on Earth.”

“It sure feels like it,”  Bucky mumbled and Kat smiled sadly.

She got up and hugged him tightly. “We deserve some simplicity. We will go to them, but let’s hold off for a few weeks. We can try to hold onto this for as long as possible.”

Bucky grinned and hugged her again. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

~~~

Steve stood just outside Wanda’s room, watching her sadly as she watched the news about her that he had just turned off in the conference room.

His stomach twisted uncomfortably as his mind pounded out the fact that Wanda was just trying to save his life and he had stupidly gotten distracted by Rumlow mentioning Bucky’s days in Hydra. It was reckless, and now Wanda’s reputation was paying the cost for it.

“What legal authority does an enhanced individual like Wanda Maximoff have in Nigeria?” The newscaster asked and Steve rolled his eyes. 

Wanda was far more qualified than half the law enforcement on the streets today, but they would never recognize that because of her one mistake.

He turned the TV off and Wanda sighed, hanging her head in regret.

“It’s my fault,”  Wanda breathed.

“That’s not true,” Steve replied automatically.

“Turn the TV back on,” Wanda said. “They’re being  _ very _ specific.”

“I should’ve clocked that bomb vest long before you had to deal with it,” Steve sighed. It was supposed to be a learning lesson for Wanda, she wasn’t supposed to deal with any first hand threats. Because of him, she would have to live with public scrutiny and guilt far too great for anyone to have to handle. Let alone, a kid.

He headed over to her bed and sat by her side, shaking his head slightly at his own selfishness.

“Rumlow said ‘Bucky’ and all of a sudden I was a sixteen-year-old kid again in Brooklyn. For a split second, it almost felt like they hadn’t left, and it was still up to me to protect them,” Steve said, glancing at Wanda who was watching him carefully.

One of the things Steve would always love about Wanda was how she always listened. Nowadays, it was rare to find someone who would carefully listen to you as you voiced your thoughts and try to understand your feelings. All too often, people would try to interject their own thoughts and opinions without hearing you out.

Wanda was one of those rare people that was both a wonderful listener, and could help you understand her point of view easily.

“People died,” Steve sighed. “It’s on me,” Steve nodded.

Wanda shook her head. “It’s on both of us.” She understood Steve’s guilt over his

mistakes, but she wouldn’t let him carry the weight of all those lives lost alone.

He had enough pain. The least she could do is take some of it for him.

“This job,” Steve sighed. Sometimes he wondered if it was all worth it. He wondered if he should just take Wanda and run away, just like Kat and Bucky, never having to deal with more lives lost and more devastation. Because no matter how many times he told himself that if he didn’t help there would be more death, he still couldn’t help but feel guilty. “We try to save as many people as we can. Sometimes that doesn’t mean everybody,” he said. He knew he had to learn to live with that on his own, but he hoped that if he explained it to Wanda early, she might somehow learn to cope quicker that he could.

“But if we can’t find a way to live with that,” Steve said, talking about Wanda and himself. “Then, next time, maybe nobody gets saved.”

There was a moment of silence as they both accepted that tough, but necessary fact.

Just then, an image faded into the room through the wall, and soon Vision was standing awkwardly before them in a collared shirt and sweater vest. 

“Vis!” Wanda exclaimed. “Kat talked to you about this! Remember the incident with her and Bucky?”

While the Vision’s skin was entirely red and he physically couldn’t blush, in that moment he would have been bright pink.

“Yes,” Vision nodded. “But the door was open, so I assumed that..,” he trailed off as Wanda glared at him. He sighed and shook his head. “Captain Rogers wished to know when Mr Stark was arriving,” he explained as if that justified him ignoring Wanda and Kat’s rules that he must always knock.

Steve nodded and took a deep breath, preparing to fight Tony on the events in Nigeria.

“Thank you,” Steve said. “We’ll be right down,” he told Vision, ignoring Wanda’s look of confusion.

Vision nodded and glanced at the open door. “I’ll use the door,” he muttered awkwardly. Just as he was about to leave he turned back to the couple momentarily. “Oh, and apparently, he’s brought a guest,” Vision announced.

Steve and Wanda exchanged a look before Steve turned to Vision with a small frown. “We know who it is?”

Vision hesitated before responding. “The secretary of state,” he replied.


	24. The Sokovia Accords

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two updates in one day! I'm on a roll

“Five years ago, I had a heart attack and dropped right in the middle of my backswing,” the secretary of state said, mimicking holding a golf club in his hands as he smirked at the Avengers surrounding him at the table in the conference room. “Turned out it was the best round of my life because after thirteen hours of surgery and a triple bypass, I found something forty years in the Army had never taught me. Perspective,” he smiled. “The world owes the Avengers an unpayable debt. You have fought for us, protected us, risked your lives. But, while a great many people see you as heroes, there are some, who would prefer the word ‘vigilantes’.”

“And what would would you use, Mr Secretary?” Natasha asked, politely smiling up at the governmental official.

“How about ‘dangerous’?” He proposed and Wanda’s heart stopped. “What would you call a group of US-based enhanced individuals who routinely ignore sovereign borders and inflict their will wherever they choose and who, frankly, seem unconcerned about what they leave behind?”

He stepped back so they could all see the screen before them, with the see-through, large Avengers logo painted across it. Meanwhile, Wanda looked across the table at Steve, both sharing looks of concern and anxiety.

A map appeared on the screen with multiple placed pinned with bright yellow pins. The screen zoomed into the first location: New York City.

“New York,” the secretary announced and allowed them to watch the footage of when the Avengers first worked together as a team, stopping Thor’s adopted brother Loki from destroying the Earth with his army of alien invaders.

The sound was on and Wanda winced as she heard the piercing screams and bullets flying through the air as she watched the Hulk bounce across the screen from building to building.

Rubble covered the camera and Tony Stark’s close friend Rhodey frowned as he looked back at Steve and Tony.

The screen unveiled the map again and zoomed in on a different location. Washington D.C.

“Washington D.C,” the secretary announced.

The sight of planes crashing into the water overwhelmed them and Bucky marched across the scene, shooting dozens of people making Steve take a deep breath and close his eyes. Sam looked down in shame.

“Sokovia,” the secretary said as the screen changed once again and Wanda sucdked in a sharp breath.

They saw the city flying and the citizens, the people Wanda had lived with, running for their lives and crying out in agony. 

It broke Wanda’s heart. Her eyes were fixated on the small informational box at the corner of the screen that showed the civilian casualties.

One hundred and seventy-seven.

She had probably lived in the same neighborhood as some of those people, had gone to school with them or even played with them when she was little. And she had killed them.

She swallowed harshly as she watched one of the apartment buildings collapse and the screen changed again, piling more guilt onto her shoulders as it immediately flicked to an image of the burning hospital.

“Lagos,” the secretary announced.

Wanda watched as sirens wailed in the distance and she watched people being brought out of the hospital on stretchers.

She had made the safest place to go in the world, suddenly unsafe for them.

When images of the dead bodies started flicking across the scene, Wanda turned away, overwhelmed by the destruction she had taken part in since she had joined the Avengers.

Steve noticed and clenched his jaw. “Okay. That’s enough,” he snapped and the secretary nodded, turning off the screen while Wanda took slow yet shallow breaths.

The secretary took a deep breath and backed up before addressing the Avengers altogether once again.

“For the past four years, you’ve operated with unlimited power and  _ no _ supervision. That’s an arrangement the governments of the world can no longer tolerate. But I think we have a solution,” he said, turning to one of his assistant’s who handed him a thick packet that looked bigger than a novel.

He turned to the table and placed the packet down in front of Wanda.

She picked it up and looked at it with shaky hands.

“The Sokovia Accords,” the secretary said.

Across the front page it read:  _ The Sokovia Accords. Framework for the Registration and Deployment of Enhanced Individuals. _

She started to flip through the first few pages when she looked up and saw Rhodey waving to her, silently asking her to pass the Accords to him.

“Approved by 117 countries, it states that the Avengers shall no longer be a private organization. Instead they’ll operate under the supervision of a United Nations panel only when and if that panel deems it necessary.”

Across the table, the Avengers all exchanged looks of confusion, horror, and irritation at what the secretary was telling them.

“The Avengers were formed to make the world a safer place,” Steve said. “I feel we’ve done that.”

The secretary scoffed, smirking down at the old man. “Tell me Captain, do you know where Thor and Banner are right now?” He wondered and Steve just glared up at him. “No?” He prompted. “What about Barnes and Hastings?”

Steve and Wanda shared a look but said nothing.

“If I misplaced a couple of 30 megaton nukes, you can bet there’d be consequences,” the secretary said simply. “Compromise,” the secretary sighed. “Reassurance. That’s how the world works,” he explained as though he were talking to children. “Believe me, this is the middle ground,” he promised.

“So, there are contingencies,” Rhodey guessed, looking between the Accords and the secretary.

“Three days from now the UN meets in Vienna to ratify the Accords,” the secretary announced. “Talk it over,” he instructed, walking out with his assistants following closely behind.

“And if we come to a decision you don’t like?” Nat prompted, making the secretary freeze in his steps.

“Then you retire,” the secretary said simply.

~~~

“I don’t mean to pry,” Kat said, leaning back on the sofa as she watched Bucky put another completed notebook in his backpack, then in the floorboards. “But why do you want to keep your memories in the floorboard of all places. I mean, we can buy a safe if you want it.”

“It’s not that,” Bucky shook his head. “If they’re under the floorboards and we get attacked, this is one of the least obvious places. A safe is obvious. It tells people that there’s something in there they should unlock.”

“If we get attacked, what makes you think Hydra is gonna want your memories?”

“They always want them,” Bucky mumbled. “They took my dog tags and while I can guess as to why they did that, I’ll never know for sure. You’ve been there, you know they’ll take everything they can get their hands on.”

“I know,” Kat sighed. “But do you think you’ll have time to pull up the floorboards and grab the backpack when we have to leave?”

“I’ll have time,” Bucky assured her and Kat shrugged, deciding it was best not to explore the possibility of an attack any further. He walked around the sofa and sat by her side.

Instead, she narrowed her eyes at the broken floorboard with a crooked nail sticking out. “Do you have anything else in that backpack besides your notebooks?”

“Why?” Bucky frowned and she shrugged. 

“Call it curiosity.”

“Just some plums and Gatorades.”

“Ah,” Kat smirked. “So, you’re well prepared if we end up having to live on the streets for a while.”

Bucky chuckled. “I’m hoping you’ve got that covered.”

Kat sighed. “Yeah, but you’re gonna need to bring some clothes too. I can’t bring all the essentials. I have some money, a couple bottles of water and a few changes of clothes, but not much else.”

Bucky nodded. “I’ll pack some more tonight. Right now, let’s stop thinking about that,” he said, scooting  closer to her and wrapping an arm around her. “I’d rather spend as much time with you as possible than worry about when it’ll have to end.”

“You’re right,” Kat sighed, resting her head on his chest as he pulled her closer. “I guess I’m just paranoid after that video of Wanda. I feel like I’m waiting for the next attack to come any second.”

“I’m not gonna sugar coat it and say we’re safe, but just know we’ll be prepared if it comes, and I’ll die before I let them get their hands on you again,” Bucky promised and she looked up at him with a small smile as he pressed a kiss to her forehead. 

“Ditto,” she said and he grinned.

“I love you,” he sighed, shaking his head in sheer disbelief that a girl like her could love a guy like him. “How is it that I managed to get someone as incredible as you?”

“Just lucky I guess,” she giggled before kissing his sweetly.

She sighed against his lips as he wrapped his arms around her and slowly deepened the kiss as he crawled on top of her.

Bucky was right. They shouldn’t worry about the future and the dark possibilities it promised. Instead, they should be happy with each other in that moment. 

~~~

“Secretary Ross has a Congressional Medal of Honor which is one more than you have,” Rhodey spat at Sam.

“So let’s say we agree to this thing,” Sam proposed. “How long is it gonna be before they LoJack us like a bunch of common criminals?”

“One hundred and seventeen countries wanna sign this. One hundred and seventeen, Sam, and you’re just like, ‘no, that’s cool, we got it’,” Rhodey said.

“How long are you gonna play both sides?!” Sam snapped. 

“I have an equation,” Vision announced and Sam rolled his eyes.

“Oh, this’ll clear it up,” he said sarcastically.

Vision sighed and carried on as though he had not heard Sam. “In the eight years since Mr Stark announced himself as Iron Man, the number of known enhanced persons has grown exponentially, and during the same period, the number of potentially world-ending events has risen at a commensurate rate.”

“Are you saying it’s our fault?” Steve asked with a raised eyebrow, looking up at him from the Sokovia Accords he was almost finished reading.

“I’m saying there may be a causality,” Vision replied. “Our very strength invites challenge. Challenge incites conflict. And conflict breeds catastrophe. Oversight. Oversight is not an idea that can be dismissed out of hand.”

“Boom,” Rhodey said as if his every thought had just been verified by the artificial intelligence. 

Sam turned and glared at him.

“Tony,” Natasha smiled at the obviously annoyed Tony resting on the couch and clearly trying to block out the arguing around him. “You are being uncharacteristically non-hyperverbal,” Nat observed.

“It’s because he’s already made up his mind,” Steve said, a hint of judgment creeping into his tone. Needless to say he was fairly upset that everyone had made up their minds based on just what Secretary Ross said, not bothering to actually read through the Accords and find out what they were dealing with in fine print.

“Boy, you know me so well,” Tony scoffed, groaning as he got up and clutched his head. “Actually, I’m nursing an electromagnetic headache,” he corrected Steve. He headed into the kitchen and turned back to the Avengers all sitting in the living room. “That’s what’s going on, Cap. It’s just pain,” he shrugged. “It’s discomfort,” he mumbled as he pulled out a mug and peered into the sink. “Who’s putting coffee grounds into the disposal? Am I running a bed and breakfast for a biker gang?”

“I think those were left from when Kat was here,” Nat said and Tony rolled his eyes. 

“Great, so we’ve had coffee grounds in there for four months and nobody has noticed. That’s just fantastic,” he sighed. He pulled out a small tablet and put it on the counter, tapping the screen to project the image so the others could see it.

On the screen was a young man with dark skin and short hair appearing no older than nineteen, smiling kindly at all of them.

They all stared at the image curiously, unsure of who he was or why this strange figure was being projected to them.

“Oh, that’s Charles Spencer by the way,” Tony said, gesturing to the grinning boy. “He’s a great kid. Computer engineering degree, 3.6 GPA, had a floor level gig at Intel planned for the fall. But first, he wanted to put a few miles on his soul before he parked it behind a desk. See the world. Maybe be of service. Charlie didn’t want to go to Vegas or Fort Lauderdale, which is what I would do. He didn’t go to Paris or Amsterdam, which is what Kat did. He decided to spend his summer building sustainable housing for the poor. Guess where. Sokovia,” he snapped.

Everyone in the room looked down in mourning. Wanda gasped softly.

When she was a little girl, she would’ve needed a man like him. A kind person who could build a home for her and Pietro when they barely had anything. 

She had killed that man before he could build a house for a little girl just like her.

“He wanted to make a difference, I suppose. I mean, we wouldn’t know because we dropped a building on him while we were  _ kicking ass _ ,” Tony said. He took a sip of his coffee and headed back into the living room while everyone around looked like they had just been punched in the gut.

“There’s no decision-making process here,” Tony said simply. “We need to be put in check!” He exclaimed. “Whatever form that takes, I’m game. If we can’t accept limitations, if we’re boundary-less, we’re no better than the bad guys.” 

“Tony, someone dies on your watch, you don’t give up,” Steve said. 

“Who said we’re giving up?” Tony retorted.

“We are if we’re not taking responsibility for our actions. This document just shifts the blame,” Steve told him.

“I’m sorry, Steve,” Rhodey sighed. That is dangerously arrogant. This is the United Nations we’re talking about,” he said and Steve rolled his eyes. Clearly, none of them were focusing on the fact that no matter who it was, they made mistakes but a whole lot more people would be dead if they lost the opportunity to intervene and help when they thought necessary. 

“It’s not the World Security Council, it’s not Shield, it’s not Hydra,” Rhodey said.

“No,” Steve agreed. “But it’s run by people with agendas, and agendas change.”

“That’s good,” Tony nodded. “That’s why I’m here. When I realized what my weapons were capable of in the wrong hands I shut it down and stopped manufacturing.”

“Tony, you chose to do that,” Steve reminded him. “If we sign this, we surrender our right to choose. What if this panel sends us somewhere we don’t think we should go?” Steve proposed. “What if there’s somewhere we need to go and they don’t let us?” Steve wondered and Tony rolled his eyes. “We may not be perfect, but the safest hands are still our own.”

“If we don’t do this now, it’s gonna be done to us later,” Tony shrugged as if that was obvious. “That’s the fact. That won’t be pretty.”

“You’re saying they’ll come for me,” Wanda breathed.

“We would protect you,” Steve said automatically. 

“Maybe Tony’s right,” Nat sighed. “If we have one hand on the wheel, we can still steer. If we take it off…,” she trailed off.

Steve felt like he was being kicked repeatedly in the sides. All his friends were turning against what he thought was best.

“Aren’t you the same woman who told the government to kiss her ass a few years ago?” Sam asked, not seeing that woman he admired looking back at him.

“I’m just-I’m reading the terrain,” Nat said. “We have made some very public mistakes. We need to win their trust back.”

“Focus up,” Tony said, gesturing up to his eyes and she looked at him like she regretted ever agreeing with a single word that came out of his mouth. “I’m sorry. Did I just mishear you or did you agree with me.”

“Oh, I wanna take it back now,” Natasha sighed.

“No, no, no, you can’t retract it,” Tony  said, wagging his finger at her. “Thank you,” he smiled. “Unprecedented.”

Meanwhile, Steve’s phone buzzed with a text alert. He pulled it out, curious about who could be texting him when everyone who usually messaged him was sitting it that room.

He pulled up his phone as Tony continued to gloat and his heart sank into his stomach.

“Okay. Case closed. I win,” Tony announced as Steve read the small text on the screen.

_ She’s gone. In her sleep. _

Steve took a shaky breath. “I have to go,” he said and walked out of the room without another word.


	25. Peggy Carter's Funeral

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I had to write this. I was so upset that canonically Bucky wasn't at Peggy's funeral.

At 5:30 that morning Kat’s phone rang out loudly on the dresser.

She groaned and rolled over, slamming her hand around the surface until she finally found it.

“What’s that?” Bucky mumbled.

“Shh, go back to bed,” Kat whispered as she looked at the caller ID.

_ Steve. _

“I have to take this,” she said, crawling out of bed and answering the phone as she pulled on Bucky’s sweatshirt and headed out of the room, softly closing the door behind her.

“Hey, Steve. It’s been a while. What’s up?” Kat asked and she heard sniffles through the receiver. “Steve? Are you okay?”

“She’s gone,” Steve breathed. “Peggy’s gone.”

Kat’s eyes widened and she looked back at the closed door where Bucky was sleeping peacefully. 

She tiptoed further away before responding. “When?”

“Tuesday. She died in her sleep that morning. There’s a funeral for her in England on Sunday. Can you make it?”

“I’ll try. I’ll see if Bucky can come too. I’m so sorry, Steve. I know you loved her.”

He sniffled. “Yeah. Thanks.”

“No problem. Bye, Steve.”

“Bye, Kat.”

Kat took a deep breath. She felt for Steve. It hurt having someone you loved pass away.

She knew he called her because he knew about her old boyfriend dying in the plane crash and needed a friend that understood to be by his side. She was more than happy to be there for him, but she was worried.

Bucky wouldn’t be too happy with travelling with the state they were in.

He didn’t like taking risks.

Whenever there is a massive disaster, the news somehow always found a way to tie it back to him and flash back to the Winter Soldier and his countless murders as he reigned terror for decades.

Especially when that disaster was caused by the Avengers seeing as Steve is well known for being Bucky’s best friend

Not only was it hard for him, but it put all of law enforcement on red alert for a man with a metal arm.

Kat knocked on the door cautiously and the door creaked open as Bucky groaned at the rude disturbance.

“Bucky?” Kat prompted. “We need to talk,” she said and Bucky sat up immediately, frowning at her as clear concern washed across his ocean blue eyes.

“What’s wrong? Are you okay?” Bucky asked and Kat smiled.

There was a time when she would’ve killed for anyone to express that kind of immediate concern from her wellbeing. Her heart skipped a beat at the very thought of it.

“I’m fine, but…,” she trailed off and Bucky almost wanted to scream with  the anxiety he was feeling in that moment.

“But?” He prompted. 

“It’s Steve,” Kat said and Bucky’s heart stopped.

“What happened to Steve?” Bucky asked. “Is he okay?”

“Yes!” Kat exclaimed, realizing that he was taking what she was saying the wrong way. “I mean no, but,” she sighed and shook her head. “Peggy died.”

Bucky’s eyes widened. “Oh my God.”

Kat nodded. “He just called me. She died Tuesday morning. The funeral is Sunday in England and he wants us to come.”

Bucky frowned. “We can’t.”

“Bucky-,” Kat tried, but he shook his head as he threw off the sheets and pulled on his underwear. 

“No, has he seen the news lately? He has to know there’s no way we can travel.”

“We’re his friends, Bucky.”

“I know and I feel sorry, but the world hates me, Kat. You knew this when we first started dating. There are just somethings I can’t do now because of what Hydra did to me.”

“I know that, Bucky, but look at me,” she sat sitting beside him and placing her hand gently on his bare back.

He fought it for a few seconds before looking up at her with a clenched jaw.

“You know if the situation was flipped and it was either one of us in mourning, he would take the risk for us. You know how he is,” she smiled softly. “We have to try for him.”

Bucky looked down and took a deep breath. “Alright, but airport security nabs us, Captain America is bailing us out.”

Kat giggled and kissed him on the cheek. “I’ll go tell Steve.”

“Tell him he owes me one!” Bucky called.

“He’s in mourning. I’m not telling him that. If anything you can tell him by your own damn self on Sunday and then you can deal with my hitting you repeatedly.”

Bucky chuckled and rolled his eyes. “Why do I put up with you?” He grinned. 

“Because you love me?” Kat guessed with an arrogant smirk. “Because you have no other choice?”

Bucky laughed. “Go call Steve. I’ll get breakfast ready,” he sighed.

“I want eggs!” She called. “Hey, Steve1” She exclaimed, pressing the phone to her ear.

Bucky chuckled and shook his head as he watched her pace the living room with the phone to her ear. He was the luckiest guy in the world.

~~~

Luckily, Kat and Bucky weren’t thrown in jail by airport security and come Sunday evening, they walked up to the church arm in arm.

Steve was standing on the steps, fighting back tears as he talked to Sam.

“Steve!” Kat exclaimed, running up the steps and pulling him into a tight hug as he let out the pain he had been holding back for the whole trip.

She rubbed his back soothingly, never letting go.

Kat wanted, more than anything, to be the person for Steve that her mother was for her when her boyfriend died.

She wouldn’t pretend that it got better because it didn’t. Instead, she knew that the best thing to do was to let yourself cry it out and feel all the pain that you’re too scared to express in public.

“I know,” she whispered. “I know, I’m sorry.”

“Welcome back,” Sam said and she smiled.

“We couldn’t let him go through this alone,” Kat said simply and Sam nodded.

“I know,” Sam said. “No matter how much Hydra changed you, they couldn’t take away your big heart.”

Kat grinned and Steve pulled away, turning to Bucky.

“I loved her,” Steve breathed.

“Nobody doubted that,” Bucky assured him. “Hell, Stark even said your love for her was obvious way before the experiment.”

Steve smiled sadly and pulled Bucky into hug.

“Hey, you’re gonna be alright, okay? She was a fighter. She had spirit just like that little kid from Brooklyn,” Bucky said and Steve chuckled.

“I missed you too.”

“I missed you too, Steve. I’m looking forward to hearing about all the new stupidity you brought to the Avengers in just four months.”

Steve grinned and the pair walked into the church while Kat hung back with Sam.

“I know this is Peggy’s funeral and everything, and she should be the main focus, but we need to talk,” Sam said and Kat frowned. 

“What’s wrong? Is this about Wanda?” Kat guessed and Sam shook his head.

“No, but you know about that?” Same said.

“I saw a thing on the news,” Kat shrugged. “What’s up?”

Sam sighed. “Well, Secretary Ross paid a visit and he had a few choice words for the team.”

“What did he say?”

“He’s making all the Avengers sign these Accords, and I’ll tell you more inside, but basically he says that if we don’t sign, we retire.”

“That’s bullshit!” Kat exclaimed and Sam nodded.

“That’s what I said, and you don’t even know the half of it,” Sam said. “Come on, you got a lot to catch up on,” Sam told her wrapping his arm around her shoulders as they headed inside.

Sam, Bucky and Kat all sat in the front row while Steve talked to Peggy’s family members and tried to carry her coffin with them.

Steve headed outside with the family to get Peggy’s casket while Sam filled the couple in on all the events that had unfolded in Avengers tower since their departure.

Everyone slowly began to take their seats and even the choir of children stood up, getting ready to sing while outside, they draped the flag over Peggy’s casket and placed the flowers in the center.

The priest moved up to the center and Kat took a deep breath, gripping Bucky’s hand as she watched them start to carry in the body.

While she had never known Peggy personally, her story had lived on through Bucky and Steve as they told her endless tales of the wonderful woman.

Part of Kat wished she had met Peggy Carter just so she would be able to say that she met someone so brave and strong in a time when women were thought of as weaklings.

Kat hated funerals and seeing the death of someone so great that one of her closest friends loved dearly, didn’t make things any easier.

After Steve carried the casket down the aisle, he froze momentarily either in shock or utter agony of the fact that Peggy Carter was really gone.

It wasn’t until Kat cleared her throat that Steve snapped back into focus and took his seat in between Bucky and Kat.

The priest stood up and spoke the usual words from the bible, saying how her soul would live on and she would never be forgotten, but Steve zoned out, squeezing Kat’s hand tightly as his mind kept forcing him to remember that the first woman he truly fell in love with was dead.

“And now I would like to invite Sharon Carter to say a few words,” the priest announced and moved so the blonde woman could stand by the podium and speak. 

“Kat,” Sam whispered, nudging her shoulder roughly.

“What?” She hissed.

“She worked for Shield. She helped us when it fell,” Sam said and Kat rolled her eyes, clearly unimpressed with the irrelevant knowledge. Sam sighed. “She used to live near Steve. They were friends.”

Kat frowned and nudged Steve. 

He barely moved.

She tapped his arm. “Steve,” she whispered, pointing up to the beautiful blonde woman.

His eyes widened and he immediately became alert.

Sharon watched him warily and took a deep breath before speaking to the whole church. “Margaret Carter was known to most as a founder of Shield, but I just knew her as Aunt Peggy,” she said, looking back down at Steve, who seemed more confused than ever. “She had a photograph in her office. Aunt Peggy standing next to JFK. As a kid, that was pretty cool, but it was a lot to live up to.”

Kat snorted. She knew that feeling. Her dad had dozens of pictures in his office standing next to world leaders as they thanked him for his service and commitment to Shield. It was overwhelming to say the least. 

“Which is why I never told anyone we were related,” Sharon explained, glancing at Steve and Steve nodded in understanding. “I asked her once how she managed to master diplomacy and espionage in a time when no one wanted to a woman succeed at either. She said, compromise where you can. But where you can’t, don’t. Even if everyone is telling you that something wrong is something right. Even if the whole world is telling you to move it is your duty to plant yourself like a tree, look them in the eye and say, ‘no, you move.’”

Kat grinned at Bucky and looked at Steve only to see him with a clenched jaw, gripping her hand firmly as he stared straight ahead. 

“Steve?” Kat prompted. 

“I think I just made a decision on the Accords,” he muttered and Kat’s eyes widened as she looked between Sam and Bucky.

“What about you, Kat?” Sam asked.

“What do you mean?” She frowned.

“Well, you’re technically an Avenger. You get a decision in this too,” Sam said and Kat’s heart stopped.

“Oh, no. Just tell the UN I’m retired. I’m not going to get myself involved in that,” Kat said.

“Are you sure?”

“Of course, I’m sure. I just want a normal life for once, I don’t wanna deal with 117 countries breathing down my neck and trying to force me to sign something I don’t agree with.”

“Alright,” Sam shrugged.

“Are you signing, Sam?” Steve asked. 

Sam scoffed. “You kidding me? I wouldn’t sign that thing if they put a gun to my head. It’s stupid, and quite frankly it’s just their way of controlling every little thing that scares them.”

“Good,” Steve sighed. “We may have to put up a fight on this.”

“Well, good luck with that, but after this is over the two of us are gone,” Bucky said, gesturing to Kat.

“He’s right. I hope you two get through this, but I don’t want any part in it if I can help it. I didn’t sign up to be an Avenger. I signed up to be a doctor and somehow got roped into becoming an enhanced individual.”

“You’re right,” Steve nodded. “Thank you guys for being here though.”

“No problem, you’d do the same if it was either of us,” Bucky said and Kat nodded. 

After a few more people spoke about Peggy and how wonderful she was, the choir sang one last sad song and slowly everyone began to depart.

Eventually, the only people left in the church were; Sam, Kat, Bucky and Steve.

“Thank you again for coming,” Steve said.

“Of course,” Kat smiled.

“I wouldn’t leave you alone after this,” Bucky said, gesturing to the few decorations left in the church.

“And I appreciate that,” Steve said.

Kat and Bucky shared a look and Bucky gave her a small nod.

“We’re gonna get going, but don’t let Tony bully you into signing. If you don’t want to sign those accords, you shouldn’t have to,” Kat said and Steve grinned.

“Thanks guys.”

“Anytime,” Bucky nodded and took Kat’s arm in his before walking out as Kat waved quickly to Steve before the church doors slammed behind them.

“You want me to stay here with you?” Sam asked, seeing that his friend was still clearly distressed. 

“No, I think I need a minute alone,” Steve said. “But thanks.”

“No problem,” Sam nodded. “I’ll be right outside.”

Steve nodded and he stood staring at Peggy’s portrait standing before him. He couldn’t believe she was really gone.

After everything, she had been his rock. The one person he could turn to that would always tell him what was right or when he was being foolish and making the wrong decision.

Now, he had to know everything for himself. 

Just then, he heard the church door open and a pair of heels clicking their way down the aisle.

At first, he thought Kat had left something behind, until he turned and saw red hair strutting towards him.

He sighed and leaned back as Nat approached him. “When I came out of the ice, I thought everyone I had known was gone. Then I found out she was alive. I was just lucky to have her.”

Nat smiled. “She had you back, too,” she said, nodding her head slowly at the captain.

He nodded and took a deep breath, remembering what Kat and Sharon had told him. “Who else signed?”

Natasha sighed. “Tony, Rhodey, Vision,” she listed.

“Clint?” Steve prompted.

“Say’s he’s retired,” Natasha smiled. 

Steve chuckled, remembering the same words coming out of Kat’s mouth, not even an hour earlier.

“Wanda?” Steve asked. He didn’t know what he’d do if Wanda signed. She was the one person he counted on always being by his side. If she was against him on this one, it would sting. A lot.

“TBD,” Natasha replied simply and Steve heaved a sigh of relief. “I’m off to Vienna for the signing of the Accords,” she said. “There’s plenty of room on the jet,” she offered. Steve sighed and shook his head. “Just because it’s the path of least resistance doesn’t mean it’s the wrong path. Staying together is more important than how we stay together.”

“What are we giving up to do it?” Steve asked and Nat froze. “I’m sorry, Nat. I can’t sign it.”

“I know,” Nat nodded.

“Then what are you doing here?” Steve frowned.

“I didn’t want you to be alone,” she said simply.

Steve’s eyes widened and she pulled him into a tight hug.


	26. The Vienna Explosion

It seemed unfair that after all their expressions of friendship and love for each other through hard times, that things would only fall apart at the signing of the Accords in Vienna.

It started off innocent enough. Wakanda was expressing their grief and pain, giving voice to a home that has spent far too long without any recognition.

T’Challa, prince and quickly King of Wakanda after the explosion was the first to notice something was wrong.

Unfortunately, his hurried warning came far too late and the bomb set off killed his father.

However, in the hours that followed, what truly damaged the perfect world that Kat and Bucky had fought so hard to put together was when law enforcement claimed they had a photo of James Buchanan Barnes planting the bomb.

Word spread quickly of the Winter Soldier’s new attack and soon Steve was calling Natasha about the event.

“Yeah?” Natasha said as she answered the phone.

“You all right?” Steve asked.

“Uh, yeah, thanks. I got lucky.” Natasha looked around warily to make sure nobody was listening to her before she stood up and pressed the phone firmly to her ear. “I know how much Barnes means to you, I really do.” She took a deep breath. “Stay home. You’ll only make this worse. For all of us. Please,” Natasha pleaded.

“Are you saying you’ll arrest me?” Steve scoffed.

“No,” Natasha said, finding the mere concept of arresting Steve Rogers slightly amusing. “Someone will. If you interfere. That’s how it works now.”

Steve sighed. “I can’t believe this was him, but if it really is and the pair of them have gone this far, I should be the one to bring them in.”

“Barnes is the only one wanted,” Natasha frowned.

“You and I both know Kat would die before she let us bring him in alone,” Steve took a deep breath. “I saw them yesterday. This can’t be them.”

“And if it is?” Natasha prompted.

“Then I’ll bring them in myself.”

“Why?” Natasha wondered.

“Because I’m the one least likely to die trying,” Steve answered simply before hanging up on her.

Natasha looked down at the phone and sighed. He was a lost cause.

“Shit,” she breathed.

Meanwhile, Steve headed into the cafe where Sam sat by the counter eating a pastry.

“She tell you to stay out of it?” Sam guessed. He looked over at his friend’s solemn expression and sighed. “Might have a point.”

“He’d do it for me,” Steve said simply, remembering Bucky’s words at the funeral.

“I just want to make sure we consider all of our options,” Sam shrugged. “The people that shoot at you usually wind up shooting at me.”

The pair shared a looked just as Sharon Carter walked up by Steve’s side.

“Tips have been pouring in since that footage went public,” she announced. “Everyone thinks the Winter Soldier goes to their gym, and it’s about to get a whole lot worse.”

Steve frowned. “What do you mean?”

“My supervisor wants to release photos of Kat to the public. Public records show them travelling together and he thinks if we show her face to the public, we’ll find him. I don’t know how much good it’s gonna do. Most of the tips we’re getting now are noise,” she took a deep breath. “Except for this,” she said before sliding a manilla folder to Steve. “My boss expects a briefing pretty much now so that’s all the head start you’re gonna get.”

“Thank you,” Steve said.

“You’re gonna have to hurry. We have orders to shoot on sight,” Sharon said. “Both of them,” she told them before heading out.

Steve sighed and looked down at the files in his hands.

“After all that, you’re still going?” Sam prompted.

“Now, we don’t have a choice,” Steve said simply and Sam sighed.

“Of course, we don’t,” he mumbled. “Hey, can I get one of these to go?” He asked one of the waitresses as he pointed to his pastry. "I'm gonna need it where we're going."

~~~

In Romania, Kat and Bucky crossed the street arm in arm.

“I still think you could’ve waited a few more days to restock on plums,” Kat sighed. “I go to work here on Wednesday.”

“We’re running low on groceries anyway. You can’t honestly tell me you’re willing to wait a couple more days to get more food in the house. You’ve been eating everything we buy.”

“I can’t help it!” Kat exclaimed as they approached the table of fruits. She began feeling an apple as Bucky peered around for where they had moved the plums to. “After Hydra I just feel the need to eat as much as possible. Everytime we work out I feel like I’m burning more calories than I’m putting in.”

“We just need to get you to some sort of medium,” Bucky shrugged. “Regardless, the workouts still help. We don’t know what our bodies can do if we start putting on weight.”

“I know, it’s just rough working out more than I’m used to.”

“I know, but it’ll get easier,” Bucky nodded. “Ah, that’s where they moved the plums!” He exclaimed, heading down the rows of various tables filled with food to the plums.

Kat snorted and shook her head. “Voi lua trei dintre acestea, vă rog,” she said to the man running the stand, purchasing three apples.

After the man bagged the apples, she thanked him and ran off to Bucky as he clutched a plum tightly in his hand, frowning at it.

“Are those guys staring at me a bit weird?” He whispered to her.

“What guys?” Kat mumbled.

“News stand,” he said and she slowly but casually turned to the man running the news stand, staring at Bucky in terror.

“Yeah,” Kat muttered. “Come on,” she said, grabbing his arm and guiding him down the street to the news stand.

He stood back while she picked up a newspaper and read the headline.

She dropped it in horror and ran over to him.   

“We need to leave, _now_ ,” she said.

“What is it?” Bucky asked, peering over his shoulder at the news man as he called the police.

Kat sighed and pulled him to the side, glancing around to make sure nobody else was spotting him.

“There was a bombing at the UN in Vienna, and they’re blaming it on you.”

Bucky’s heart plummeted into his stomach as he stared at her with wide eyes. His body kicked into overdrive and he immediately grabbed Kat’s arm and raced down the street up to their apartment.

“Grab the backpacks, I’ll bring the clothes,” Bucky instructed and she nodded.

Kat darted up the stairs, recklessly oblivious to the clear signs that someone had been in their apartment before them.

If it wasn’t for Bucky grabbing her waist and pulling her away, she would have stormed right in.

He held a finger to his lips and tiptoed before he, barely peeking through the opened doorway just in time to see the large shield owned by none other than Captain America glaring back at him.

He cursed as he turned back to her.

“What? Who is it?” Kat whispered.

“Steve.”

“Fuck,” Kat mumbled, trying to glance into the apartment. “How does he know where we are?”

Bucky shrugged. “He’s got fifty agents at his beck and call. Ten guesses.”

“You’re right,” Kat sighed. “Should we go in? Do you think we have time?”

“Don’t know, but he’s gotta be here for something,” Bucky said. “Come on,” he said waving her towards him.

“Bucky!” Kat shouted in a whisper. “Are you sure this is smart?! Bucky!”

“Come on!” He exclaimed.

They headed inside, watching as Steve paged through Bucky’s newest notebook warily.

“Understood,” Steve said and Kat internally cursed.

He must have been on comms with Sam.

Steve turned around just then as though he had heard her irritated thoughts about him and he sighed as he put the notebook down.

“Kat,” Steve nodded. “Does he know me?” He asked, gesturing to Bucky.

Kat rolled her eyes. Clearly, the Captain wasn’t the brightest when it came to mind control. If Bucky was the Winter Soldier, he wouldn’t differentiate between the pair of them.

He would just kill them.

“Yes,” she said.

Steve took a deep breath and looked to Bucky, who was fidgeting with Kat’s father’s dog tags. He hadn’t done that in ages, but clearly being put back in the limelight as the Winter Soldier was already starting to show its effects.

“I know you’re nervous,” Steve said. “And you have every reason to be.”

“I wasn’t in Vienna,” Bucky said automatically. “I don’t do that anymore.”

Kat smiled softly at him.  She knew he hated when people saw him as nothing more than the Winter Soldier. It hurt, but more than anything he hated when Steve treated him like that as well. Not that she could blame Steve. He saw a picture in the newspaper and figured the only way Bucky could do that was if he was the Winter Soldier.

Steve took a moment to listen to his comms before turning back to the couple. “Well, the people that think you did are coming here now, and they’re not planning on taking you alive.”

“That’s smart,” Bucky nodded. “Good strategy.”

“They won’t touch him,” Kat said firmly. “I won’t let them.”

“We might not have much of a choice,” Steve replied and Kat rolled her eyes.

“Wanna bet?” Kat smirked.

She headed over to the bed and pulled out a large blade from underneath her pillow.

“Kat!” Steve snapped. “No killing.”

“Who said anything about killing?” She asked as they all heard footsteps echoing down the hall.

“This doesn’t have to end in a fight,” Steve said, desperately still trying to strive for the side of the angels.

Kat narrowed her eyes at him, sincerely believing he was joking.    

“It always ends in a fight,” Bucky mumbled as he started to take off his glove.

Just then, Steve turned to the window and the couple followed his gaze to see a grenade flying through.

Steve immediately hit it against the wall with his shield and Kat kicked it through another window as one flew in right after it. It landed on the floor beside Bucky and he kicked it to Steve who covered it with his shield so they wouldn’t feel the blast.

Kat took a deep breath and marched to their bedroom.

“Two minutes, Buck!” She called and he nodded, heading to the sofa to pull out the cushions and grab the box filled with Kat’s weapons.

As another grenade flew through the last window near their bed. Kat spun around and kicked the mattress up, shielding herself from the blast and bouncing the grenade back outside as she clipped her backpack over her chest and marched out to the men. The door slammed and Kat rolled her eyes. Steve tossed her the dining room table and Kat wedged it over the lock so the police couldn’t get in quickly.

“Kat!” Bucky called and she looked up as he tossed her the box of weapons.

She caught it and started putting weapons into her belt straps as the police continued to pound on the door.

All of a sudden, a police man jumped through one of the windows and Kat and Bucky shared a look before Bucky marched up and punched the man in the face.

Another jumped through the window by the kitchen, shattering the glass as Steve began to fight him.

Kat kicked the first man in the gut and as he kneeled over, she jumped onto his back and stabbed him roughly, making sure he didn’t get back up as she jumped off and wiped his blood away on her shirt.

As she turned, Steve hit one of the men over the head with his shield and Kat climbed onto his back before wrapping her arms around him and stabbing him in the stomach with the same knife.

When she lifted up her arms as the man began to fall down, Bucky grabbed both her hands and spun her over his back as he kicked the man down out of the door that lead to a straight drop out of the ten story apartment building.

Kat marched over to the final police officer who tried to shoot her, but missed as she laughed at him. She grabbed his bulletproof vest and flung him into the wall, making the cement crack around him as he fell to the ground unconscious.

Meanwhile, Steve grabbed Bucky’s arm, overwhelmed with the comfort in violence he was discovering in his two closest friends.

“Buck, stop!” Steve cried. “You’re gonna kill someone.”

Bucky tossed him to the ground and Kat raced over, grabbing her hat as she did so.

Steve looked terrified and Kat rolled her eyes. He had to know Bucky wouldn’t kill him. Especially when he wasn’t the Winter Soldier.

“I’m not gonna kill anyone,” Bucky mumbled, punching a hole in the floorboards beside Steve’s head. He grabbed his backpack and tossed it out the door across the gap to the roof of the building right beside them.

Just then, the door blew open and the policemen marched in, firing hundreds of rounds at the trio.

Bucky shoved Kat behind him and shielded them with his metal arm until Steve jumped up and protected all three of them with his shield, slowly backing out of the apartment.

Bucky soon grew irritated and used Steve as a weapon, tossing him towards the police officers before marching towards one still shooting, blocking the bullets with his metal hand, and shoving the police man’s head into the wall.

The guy somehow got immediately back up and Kat grabbed a cinderblock and shoved it into his chest, tossing the man out of their apartment and down the stairwell.

Bucky raised an eyebrow at her and she frowned. “What? You promised you wouldn’t kill anymore, doesn’t mean I made that same vow.”

“You’re a doctor,” Bucky reminded her.

“Your point is?”

Bullets started flying through their door and Kat rolled her eyes.

“You wanna take care of that?” She asked and he chuckled, grabbing her hand.

“Come on,” he sighed.

They ran towards the door and Bucky punched his metal fist through it, grabbing one of the police officer’s by the throat and flinging him against the hallway wall.

He kicked the door open and Kat grabbed a man that started to attack Bucky and threw him into another wall.

Just as they planned on heading back to the door and jumping out, the glass ceiling shattered and a policeman came sailing through, firing as soon as he entered the building.

Bucky shielded Kat with his metal arm while Kat came up from the officer’s side and grabbed his gun to throw him into the wall. Bucky grabbed the weapons from the fallen officer and used them against two men that tried to attack Kat.

They looked down and saw hundreds of officers making their way up the stairs.

Bucky and Kat shared a look before grabbing each other’s hands and jumping on the back of the officer that had flown through the ceiling.

He lowered them down a floor and sent them crashing into two other policemen.

One of the policemen grabbed Kat and another grabbed Bucky as he started punching an officer in front of him.

Kat spun around and wrapped her legs around the officer who tried to grab her, pulling out a blade from her belt and stabbing him in the gut with it.

Steve attacked one of the men in front of Bucky while Kat got into a fist fight with another officer. She slammed his head against the metal railings surrounding the staircase and tried to toss him over when Steve grabbed him.

“Seriously?” He said and she shrugged, elbowing another officer in the face before running after Bucky.

Bucky grabbed her waist tightly with one hand and used the other to break a metal railing and swing down another floor with his arm tightly around his girlfriend.

As they landed, they both simultaneously kicked two officers into another apartment.

Kat jumped up and as more policemen marched up the stairs, she grabbed the first one she saw and slammed his head into the cement walling twice while Bucky tossed another’s gun down the staircase and punched him in the chest, sending him flying into the wall.

As another officer aimed his gun at the couple, Steve flung his shield down and knocked him out.

Steve looked down at the pair as they shared a looked, each giving the other a small nod, speaking without words before they jumped down the stairwell together.

Steve looked down in horror to see them falling down the multiple floors together, only stopping when Bucky grabbed one of the railings with his metal arm and grabbed Kat with his other hand.

She cried out in pain before he flung her over the railing and climbed over right after.

“You good?” He asked and she nodded.

“I’m fine. Let’s go.”

He paused for a moment, worried that she was lying before deciding that if it was fatal, she would tell him. He nodded and grabbed her hand as they continued running.

They raced through the hallway until they reached the door that lead to the same building Bucky had thrown his belongings onto. They each took a deep breath and Bucky kicked down the door before grabbing Kat’s hand and running down the hallway. They reached the ledge outside the hallway and simultaneously kicked themselves up, flying through the air together as though they were in slow motion. They landed on the roof of the building and barely took a second to recuperate before jumping up and darting towards the door at the other side of the roof. Bucky grabbed his backpack and momentarily let go of Kat’s hand so he could clip it on.

However, before they could reach the door, something flew through the air and hit both of their shoulders, knocking them over roughly.

Bucky and Kat looked up in confusion only to see a man in a skintight black catsuit staring at the pair of them. He flashed his hands and showed  his long metal claws, glinting as the sunshine hit them.

Bucky and Kat looked to each other and Bucky took a deep breath getting ready to hit the man before he hit and kicked Bucky in the chest, slamming him into a large air conditioning unit.

“Oh, hell no,” Kat mumbled before running up the strange man’s back and wrapping her legs around his waist.

Before she could plunge the knives into his stomach, he grabbed her wrists and directed the knives to her left calf.

He stabbed her roughly and she screamed in pain just as Bucky punched him so hard, the man was knocked off his feet and Kat was thrown onto the ground.

She clutched her calf, delicately trying to take out the two knives as she bit her lip in pain. Bucky knelt by her side, clenching his jaw at the wound.

“I’ll kill him,” he muttered and Kat grabbed his wrist.

She shook her head slowly. “We have to get out of here,” she said as she took off her jacket and tied it around her calf tightly. “I’ll be fine. It’s not horrible. I can still run.”

“Are you sure?”

“Positive,” she nodded. “Let’s go.”

He hesitated, but sighed and nodded, grabbing her hand just as the man in the catsuit got up.

“Shit,” Kat breathed, watching him over her shoulder.

Before she could even react, the man ran up to them and flung her over his shoulder into the air conditioning unit.

She grappled her belt, desperate for a blade when she realized her last two blades had been stabbed into her calf and were no less than twenty feet away, just past where Bucky was in a fist fight with the man.

Kat jumped up and bolted to the knives just as Bucky used a thin wooden board to keep the man’s cat nails from scratching his face off.

Kat spun and jumped around, flinging a knife right into the man’s foot.

He cursed loudly and she ran up to him, pulling the knife from his foot and holding it to his throat.

“Back the fuck off,” she warned. “Don’t think I wouldn’t do it,” she threatened the man.

Just as she was about to grab Bucky, bullets started flying through the air from a helicopter soaring overhead. They hit the rooftop rapidly and Kat cursed, grabbing Bucky’s hand and helping him up.

The bullets bounced off the cat man’s suit and Kat rolled her eyes.

“Great, he’s good with knives and has got a bulletproof suit,” she muttered.

The helicopter moved and Kat sighed in relief.

“Kat!” Bucky called from the edge of the rooftop, pulling his backpack on his shoulders as he did so.

Kat bolted over to Bucky and he grabbed her hand before jumping off the roof and down to a ledge outside one of the windows.

“Is he following us?” Bucky asked.

Kat turned and saw the man using his nails to scrape down the walling of the building.

“Shit, yes,” Kat said.

“Come on,” he said, tightening his grip on her hand before jumping down to the ground.

“He’s right behind us!” Kat cried, watching the man in the cat suit over her shoulder.

As they ran down the street, the helicopter reappeared, firing bullets all around them.

“Overpass,” Bucky breathed and she nodded.

The pair moved from the path of bullets and jumped down through an overpass, right in the middle of traffic. Bucky tried to dodge the cars, but failing, just started running in their path.

Kat chose that moment to be especially grateful for the super soldier serum. If they had not been forcibly injected with it, they wouldn’t be able to speed past the cars and trucks and hopefully outrun the man in the catsuit.

Kat looked behind her, silently praying that the man had been lost in the jumble of vehicles, but unfortunately her prayers were not answered as she saw him speeding towards them.

_Where the hell was this guy from?_

In the distance, she heard sirens wailing and rolled her eyes. They would never escape if the cops didn’t stop breathing down their necks. They had planned for far more police if they ever had to escape, but with the catman on their trail, they didn’t stand a chance unless the cops gave them a little leeway. As Kat looked up at the grim expression on Bucky’s face, she could tell he had worked out the same issue.

They both walked up and over a green car speeding down the road, on the lookout for some other way they could escape.

Kat heard the sirens getting closer and frowned, turning just in time to see Steve in the front seat of a cop car. She breathed a small sigh of relief.

“Steve is in the police car behind us,” she told Bucky and she saw his expression relax a little when he knew that he wasn’t seconds away from being arrested.

Just as they were beginning think they were in the clear as they saw the light hitting the street in front of them, dozens of cop cars swerved in front of them, nearly hitting the couple as they blocked their escape.

“Shit!” Kat screamed before she and Bucky hopped over the barrels blocking the two directions on the street from each other. “We need a ride.”

Bucky nodded. “Getting that.”

They ran out onto the street and Bucky spotted a man on a motorcycle speeding down the street. He smirked at Kat and in one fluid motion he kicked the biker off the vehicle, spun it around and climbed onto it.

Kat found herself unable to breath for a moment. “That was, _extremely_ attractive,” she remarked and he chuckled.

“You coming?” Bucky asked and she grinned before jumping on the back of the motorcycle and wrapping his arms around his waist.

He sped through traffic, clearly uncaring about any traffic laws and Steve followed closely behind them.

They managed to get a few blocks without any disturbances until the cat man made a reappearance. He jumped to the front of Steve’s car and then pounced on the motorcycle, but before he could get his hands on Bucky, Kat grabbed him by the throat. Bucky glanced back and starting driving faster as Kat leaned down and skidded the man across the ground, his metal nails sparking against the pavement.

He fought back and tried to grab her arm but she kicked him in the chest and sent him flying in the opposite direction down the road.

“That was, _extremely_ attractive,” Bucky said and Kat giggled.

“Shut up and drive.”

Kat looked back and her heart stopped when she saw the cat man grabbing onto Sam.

“We need an escape route!” Kat exclaimed.

“First pouch in my backpack!” Bucky called.

Kat frowned and unzipped the back to find all sorts of weaponry.

“Plums and Gatorades, huh?” She said raising an eyebrow. He pinkened slightly and she rolled her eyes. “You’re such a liar!” She laughed.

“Use the item at the top of everything else. Press the button in the center and throw it up on the wall when I saw go.”

“What does it do?”

“It’ll blow up the cement around it,” Bucky explained and she nodded, grabbing the item and zipping up his backpack. They sped down the highway and Sam tried to kick the catman off, but it was no use. “Ready?”

“Yeah!” Kat cried.

“Go!” He screamed.

She pressed the button in the center, just like he said and tossed the explosive up.

Just as he promised, the cement exploded and blocked off the road for further vehicles.

Kat thought they were safe for a split second until she was hit roughly in the back. She lurched forward and Bucky fell off the motorcycle, causing her to tumble over as well. Kat looked up and saw the cat man marching towards them. She groaned.

She just wanted a break from him.

He grabbed Kat and unleashed his claws as Kat struggled helplessly against him.

However, before he could scratch her, Steve ran forward and tackled him, making Kat fall backwards and hit her head on the pavement.

Bucky darted up to her and helped her up, delicately brushing his fingers on the back of her head as she groaned in pain.

“No blood,” he mumbled, showing her his clean fingers. “It’s healing.”

“It’s just giving me a killer headache,” she mumbled and he smirked.

They stood up, just in time to be flanked by officers on all sides.

Kat groaned and Bucky gripped her hand tightly as Rhodey flew in from the sky in his War Machine armor and raised his guns at them in warning. “Stand down, now!” He shouted.

Kat looked back at Steve to see him holding his hand out, desperate to protect the couple to the very end.

All the officers pointed their guns at them and the catman seemed confused by the very presence of all those weapons. Steve put away his shield and Kat looked up at Bucky. He nodded and she rolled her eyes before putting away her knives.

Steve raised his hands in surrender and Rhodey turned to him. “Congratulations, Cap. You’re a criminal.”

Kat clenched her jaw. “Shut the hell up, Rhodey,” Kat mumbled, marching towards him before Bucky grabbed her wrist and shook his head.

They had already been caught. There was no need to engage in further combat.

“You should be proud, Kat. You’re the one who roped him into this,” Rhodey said and Kat rolled her eyes.

“I didn’t rope him into anything,” she scoffed as two officers marched up behind her and Bucky and forced their hands behind their back.

The couple were both forced to the ground and handcuffs were put on them roughly as the catman removed his mask and revealed a handsome man with dark skin and short dark hair revealed himself.

“Your highness,” Rhodey nodded, bowing slightly.

Kat’s eyes widened, but before she could get a better look at the guy, her head was forced to the ground by one of the officers and she was put in handcuffs.

“Ow!” She cried. “Shit,” she sighed.

Kat was yanked up alongside Bucky and forced towards the police vans waiting for them while Steve and Sam were handcuffed and arrested right along with them.


	27. The Arrest of Bucky Barnes

On the streets of Berlin, sirens wailed as the vehicles toting; T’Challa, Steve, Kat, Sam and Bucky all sped down the streets.

In one van, the criminal Bucky Barnes was being held in maximum lockdown, in the other; Steve, Kat, Sam and T’Challa all sat bitterly.

Steve had managed to talk Rhodey into getting Kat in a vehicle with him at Bucky’s hollered requests. She was still cuffed to the door and had her own fenced in seat, but she wasn’t strapped to a chair receiving electric bolts to her body every other minute like Bucky was.

According to the authorities, she was a bigger threat than Steve and Sam, but not as big as Bucky which irritated her to no end. She felt like she was getting the easy side of their arrest while Bucky was in a van somewhere behind them struggling every minute.

It pained her endlessly.

So, she sat in bitter silence, unwilling to talk to the men who had deprived her of sitting by her boyfriend’s side, enduring the same pain as he was.

However, that silence was broken after Sam, who had started at T’Challa for a good ten minutes asked the stupidest question Kat had ever heard come from his lips.

And she had grown up with the guy.

“So, you like cats?” Sam asked and Kat snorted.

“Sam,” Steve sighed.

“Oh, my God,” Kat laughed.

“What?” Sam frowned. “Dude shows up dressed like a cat and neither of you wanna know more?”

“Did I ask you if you liked birds when you took the wings?” Kat asked. “No, now shut up.”

“All I wanna know is if the man likes cats,” Sam sighed. “What’s the big deal?”

“Your suit,” Steve said, hesitating slightly as he spoke. “It’s vibranium?”

T’Challa looked up at the men, silently wondering if he should respond when they were such close friends with the girl who knowingly dated the man who had killed his father.

He sighed, eventually deciding that there would be no better way to pass the time in the long drive through Berlin, so he might as well entertain their questions.

“The Black Panther has been the protector of Wakanda for generations. A mantle, passed from warrior to warrior,” he explained. “And now, because your friend murdered my father, I also wear the mantle of king.”

“He didn’t murder your father,” Kat said.

“Kat,” Steve warned, holding a finger up to his lips.

“What? I have never left Bucky’s side for the past few weeks. We’ve always been together. There’s no way he was in Vienna and no reason for him to plant a bomb at the UN,” Kat said.

“I don’t expect you to understand the pain your boyfriend has caused. You would always defend him after all and while admirable, this can seem dangerous,” T’Challa said and Kat rolled her eyes.

“I’m not stupid. I just know that he didn’t kill your father.”

“Have you ever lost a parent?” T’Challa asked and Kat looked down in mourning.

“That’s enough questions,” Steve snapped.

“No, it’s alright,” Kat nodded. “I lost both my parents in a car crash when I was nineteen.”

T’Challa seemed slightly taken aback by her answer but nodded nonetheless and took a deep breath. “So, you know the pain their loss can bring.”

“I do.”

“How would you feel if a man had murdered your parents and you saw that man walking free, knowing you could do something about it?”  T’Challa asked.

Kat narrowed her eyes at the Wakandan King. “I’d wait to know all the facts and make sure he actually did it before attacking him and stabbing his girlfriend.”

T’Challa sighed and turned away from her. “I see you will always rise to his defense, so I ask you as both warrior and king, how long do you think you can keep your boyfriend safe from me?”

Kat clenched her jaw and glared at him. “As long as it takes,” she answered simply.

They drove the rest of the way to the Task Force Headquarters in silence.

When they arrived, Steve, Sam, and T’Challa were let out and a guard approached Kat’s fenced in seating.

He unlocked her fencing and undid the zip tie cuffing her to the door before clicking on metal handcuffs.

He grabbed her arm and pulled her out just in time for her to see the bulletproof glass surrounding Bucky’s seating. The words on it read: D 23.

She took a shaky breath, clenching a fist and willing herself not to go running towards him right that second.

He looked up at her and she blew him a kiss.

He smiled and mouthed _I love you_ to her, making her grin as the guard pulled her towards the other men and a group of government officials. Sharon stood in the center of them looking guilty and apologetic as she glanced at the four of them.

“What’s gonna happen to him?” Steve asked.

“Same thing that oughta happen to you,” a short man in a pristine suit standing beside Sharon replied. “Especially his little girlfriend.”

“I have a name you know,” Kat said, rolling her eyes. “Shockingly enough I’m known as something other than Bucky Barnes’s girlfriend.”

“Oh, I know Miss Hastings and just like your boyfriend, you’ll be getting a psychological evaluation, but he has extradition piled on top of that, unlike yourself.”

Kat sighed. “Fantastic,” she muttered sarcastically.

“This is Everett Ross. Deputy Task Force Commander,” Sharon introduced, nodding to the short blonde man.

Steve looked at Kat and back at Bucky. “What about a lawyer? For both of them.”

Kat smirked. Steve was the overprotective brother she had always needed.

Everett Ross chuckled. “Lawyer. That’s funny. See their weapons are placed in lockup,” he instructed Sharon. “We’ll write you a receipt,” he promised the four of them as several soldiers walked past toting their armory.

“If you use my own knives on me, I swear to God, I’ll kill you,” Kat said and Ross just laughed at the concept.

Sam glared at the man toting his bird wings. “I better not look out the window and see anybody flying around in that.”

“I bet they’d look better than you,” Kat smirked.

“Girl, I swear sometimes I wonder why I dated you,” Sam remarked and Kat giggled.

“Believe it or not there was a time when you were head over heels for me.”

“Now you’re just a pain in my ass,” Sam mumbled.

“Just like when we were kids,” Kat grinned.

“I’m tired of listening to their banter, get her into max,” Ross instructed and Kat rolled her eyes.

“And so it begins,” she sighed. “See you on the flip side, boys!” She exclaimed as a guard grabbed her arm and tugged her down the hallway, just passing Bucky’s cell as they went. “Tell me, do I get soft drinks in my cell?” Kat asked.

“You get two guards and a bed,” the guard said and she giggled.

“Ah, I’m not sure how much I can do with the handcuffs but who knows they might make things more interesting,” she said, looking down at her metal cuffs. “I was never into BDSM, but hey I’m game for something new.”

The guard unwillingly snorted at her rambling and she smirked. With a few mind games, she would be out of her cage in no time.

Meanwhile, Steve, Sam, T’Challa and Ross all marched down the hall to their office that would stand in place of a cell.

They met Nat halfway down the corridor and she walked by Steve’s side to the office.

“For the record, this is what making things worse looks like,” she said.

“They’re alive,” Steve said simply.

They marched into the office and found Tony Stark pacing the room, talking to a reporter on his phone.

“No. Romania was not Accords-sanctioned,” he said. “Colonel Rhodes is supervising cleanup.”

“Try not to break anything while we fix this,” Natasha instructed the men.

“Consequences?” Tony frowned. “You bet there’ll be consequences.” He paused. “Obviously you can quote me on that, because I just said it. Anything else?” The reporter finished and he sighed. “Thank you, sir,” he said before hanging up the phone and approaching Steve and Sam.

“‘Consequences’?” Steve repeated.

“Secretary Ross wants you both prosecuted.” Tony explained. “I just barely managed to talk him out of throwing Kat in the same hole he wants to dump Bucky in. I had to give him something,” Tony shrugged.

“I’m not getting that shield back, am I?” Steve smirked.

“Technically, it’s the government’s property,” Natasha smiled. “Wings too,” she added.

“That’s cold,” Sam hummed.

“Warmer than jail!” Tony called as he headed out with Natasha to clean up the mess.

~~~

A couple hours later, Kat continued to toy with her guards while the men got situated in their office and Bucky resigned himself to his situation.

The cameras across the wall showed the different cells, but they didn’t have access to the audio.

However, Steve could tell what was going on as he watched Kat shamelessly try to get the guards the bend the rules for her. He smirked.

“That’s my girl,” he hummed. He was proud of her for standing up and fighting for what she wanted, no matter what. She and Bucky had grown so much since they first found him aimlessly wandering the streets of Brooklyn and he was happy to ensure that their strength and confidence would not stop growing.

“Hey, you wanna see something cool?” Tony asked and Steve turned to him with a small confused frown. “I pulled something from dad’s archives,” Tony smiled, waving a small black box in front of him. “Felt timely,” he mumbled as Steve took a seat as the long table behind him. Tony put his jacket down and opened the box, placing it in front of Steve and revealing two pristine pens in mind condition appearing as though they had been owned by royalty. “FDR signed the Lend-Lease bill with these in 1941,” Tony explained. “Provided support to the Allies when they needed it most,” he continued and Steve immediately knew what this was about. He smirked at the attempt but shook his head with a soft sigh. It was pointless.

“Some would say it brought our country closer to war,” Steve retorted, speaking on both accounts at the time and making Tony freeze as his example backfired.

“See?” Tony said. “If not for these you wouldn’t be here,” he fired back and Steve rolled his eyes as he pushed the pens away from him. “I’m trying to… What do you call it. That’s an olive branch,” he said, nodding to the pens. “Is that what you call it?” He asked as he sat down across from Steve.

“Is Pepper here?” Steve asked, trying to change the subject. “I didn’t see her.”

Tony took a shaky breath. “We’re kinda,” he hesitated. “Well, not kinda,” he frowned.

“Pregnant?” Steve guessed with a small smile.

“No,” Tony chuckled. “Definitely not. We’re taking a break,” he said. “It’s nobody’s fault.”

Steve sucked in a sharp breath. “I’m so sorry, Tony. I didn’t know.”

“A few years ago I almost lost her, so I trashed all my suits. Then we had to mop up Hydra and then Ultron. My fault. And then, and then, and then, I never stopped. Because the truth is I don’t wanna stop,” he admitted. “I don’t wanna lose her. I thought maybe the Accords could split the difference.” He sighed and leaned back in his chair before getting up with a small smirk. “In her defense, I’m a handful. Yet, Dad was a pain in the ass, but he and Mom always made it work, and don’t even get me started on Bonnie and Clyde in their cells over there,” Tony chuckled, gesturing to the monitors where, side by side, on separate cameras Kat and Bucky were both in their cells.

“You know, I’m glad Howard got married,” Steve said. “I only knew him when he was young and single.”

“Oh, really?!” Tony exclaimed sarcastically. “You two knew each other? He never mentioned that. Maybe, only a _thousand_ times,” Tony sighed. “God, I hated you.”

“I don’t mean to make things difficult.”

“I know, because you’re a very polite person,” Tony said.

“If I see a situation pointed south, I can’t ignore it. Sometimes I wish I could,” Steve confessed.

“No, you don’t,” Tony replied automatically.

Steve smiled. “No, I don’t,” he nodded in agreement. “Sometimes…,” he trailed off.

“Sometimes I wanna punch you in your perfect teeth,” Tony said honestly. “But I don’t wanna see you gone. We need you, Cap. So far, nothing’s happened that can’t be undone if you sign. We can make the last 24 hours legit. Barnes and Hastings get transferred to an American psych-centre instead of Wakandan and Romanian prisons.”

Steve sighed and picked up one of the pens, standing up and pacing the floor momentarily before turning back to Tony. “I’m not saying it’s impossible, but there would have to be safeguards.”

“Sure,” Tony said instinctively. “Once we put out the PR fire, these documents can be amended. I’d file a motion to have you and Wanda reinstated-.”

“Wanda?” Steve cut him off. “What about Wanda?”

“She’s fine,” Tony promised. “She’s confined to the compound currently. Vision’s keeping her company.”

Steve rolled his eyes. He couldn’t believe he fell for that for even a split second. He was going to let Tony cart his friends off to some psych ward in the hopes of keeping the peace, only to find out Tony was holding his girlfriend prisoner in the compound.

“Oh, God, Tony,” Steve groaned. “Every time,” he sighed. “Every time I think you see things the right way-.”

“What? It's one hundred acres with a lap pool. It’s got a screening room. There’s worse ways to protect people.”

“Protection?! Is that how you see this? This is protection?” Steve scoffed. This certainly wasn’t protection. Protection was keeping someone safe from outside harm and that person being okay with that. Tony was willing to send Bucky and Kat off to a psych ward to "protect" them. He was keeping Wanda in the compound against her will to "protect" her. This was not protection. “It’s internment, Tony!”

“She’s not a US citizen,” Tony tried and Steve groaned in frustration.

“Oh, come on, Tony,” Steve sighed. He was putting up a weak defense at best.

“They don’t grant visas to weapons of mass destruction.”

“She’s a kid!” Steve yelled.

“Give me a break!” Tony cried. “I’m doing what has to be done to stave off something worse,” he sighed.

Steve watched him, nodding as he finally realized where Tony’s true priorities lied. “You keep telling yourself that.” Steve held up the pen and walked over to place it right by the other pen still in it’s case. “Hate to break up the set,” he said simply before walking away without another word.


	28. December 16, 1991

Steve stared at the blurry picture of Bucky with his jaw clenched. Something just wasn’t adding up, and he didn’t like it.

He tossed the photo on the table and looked up at Sam and Sharon. “Why would the Task Force release this photo to begin with?” He wondered.

Sharon shrugged. “Get the word out,” she guessed. “Involve as many eyes as we can?” She offered.

“Right,” Steve nodded. “It’s a good way to flush the pair of them out of hiding,” he said, gesturing to the screens showing Kat and Bucky. “Set off a bomb, get your picture taken. Get seven billion people looking for the Winter Soldier.”

“You’re saying someone framed him to find him,” Sharon said.

“Steve, we’ve tried tracking the pair of them countless times and found nothing,” Sam reminded him.

“We didn’t bomb the UN,” Steve replied. “That turns a lot of heads.” 

Sam nodded. He had a point.

“Yeah, but that doesn’t guarantee that whoever framed him would get the pair of them. It guarantees that we would,” Sharon interjected, freezing as she realized what she was saying.

“Yeah,” Steve nodded as they looked at the screens holding Kat and Bucky.

Kat was still handcuffed, trying to sweet talk the guards while Bucky’s psychiatrist sat across from him behind a metal table, jotting down notes.

“Tell me, Bucky,” the man said. “You’ve seen a great deal, haven’t you?”

“I don’t wanna talk about,” Bucky replied simply. He hated talking to other doctors. Kat was the only one who knew how to get into his head and help him through what he had seen. Others just had no idea how his mind worked, especially not in the way she knew.

“You fear that if you open your mouth, the horrors might never stop,” the doctor assumed. 

Bucky rolled his eyes. That wasn’t it at all. He just preferred to talk about his nightmares with the one girl who never judged him rather than some stranger.

The doctor tapped around on his tablet, smiling at the new message in his inbox. “Don’t worry,” he said. He opened the message and read the text that said:  _ Package Delivered _ in all caps. “We only have to talk about one,” he promised as he looked up at Bucky. 

Suddenly, across the city, the power flickered and failed as the doctor’s package was opened right beside the power grid.

Kat frowned as the lights dimmed in her room and her eyes widened as she realized that her and Bucky weren’t out of the woods yet.

“Hey, what’s going on here?” One of the guards shouted into his walkie talkie. “We got no power.”

The other stood up and was anxiously pacing the room.

“Hey!” Kat called. “Hey, if you value your life you will get me out of these cuffs right now.”

The guard furrowed his eyebrows at her.

“Trust me. Everyone in this building is in danger if you don’t let me go,” Kat warned.

Meanwhile, in the office, Ross was angrily marching past the monitors, shouting into his walkie talkie.

“Get me eyes on Barnes, now!” He ordered. “Go!” He waved to Tony.

Tony tapped into his comms and spoke to his artificial intelligence, hooked up to him even across the world. “Friday, get me a source on that outage,” he instructed. 

Steve turned to Sharon wearing an expression of utter shock and concern.

“Sub-level five, East Wing,” she said without missing a beat.

Immediately, Steve and Sam took off towards their friends. While some knew what was coming, others could only hope it was a simple power failure.

In his cell, Bucky watched the flashing lights and turned to glare at the doctor. “What the hell is this?” He asked. 

“Why don’t we discuss your home?” The doctor offered, ignoring Bucky’s question. “Not Romania. Certainly not Brooklyn, no,” he shook his head as he pulled a notebook out of his case. “I mean your real home,” he said as he took his glasses off and lifted up a little red notebook with a black star on it so Bucky could see.

Bucky sucked in a sharp breath as the man pulled out a flashlight and opened the notebook, slowly walking towards him.

“No,” Bucky breathed.

In Russian, the doctor began listing the series of words that Bucky knew would make him snap. “Longing.”

Bucky snapped his eyes shut and shook his head, willing his mind to fade away from that place. 

“Rusted.”

He shook as he desperately tried to cling onto his memories. He had to think of something good. He couldn’t let himself be taken away again. “Stop,” Bucky whispered, his voice cracking as he spoke.

“Seventeen.”

Good memories. Home. Brooklyn. Laughing with Steve. His parents. 

His metal arms started shaking and he clenched it in a fist. It wasn’t strong enough. “Stop!” He cried.

“Daybreak,” the doctor smirked, seemingly drunk with the power the small notebook granted him.

Bucky screamed out in agony. He had to find a memory to cling to.

Something.

Something.

Something.

Laughter.

Slowly a face came into view.

Kat.

A memory.

Lying in bed with her in the early morning in Romania, the pair of them laughing as she told him about a rowdy customer at the farmer’s market.

That was it.

If he just clung onto that memory, he would be okay.

“Furnace,” the doctor said and Bucky screamed, holding onto the image of Kat’s face as the Soldier gained control of his body, breaking free of his restraints.

He started hitting the bulletproof glass as the doctor moved out of the way and continued. 

“Nine.”

Bucky felt himself losing control. He screamed as the Soldier fought him over his own mind.

“Benign. Homecoming,” he said as the glass began to crack around Bucky’s metal fist.

“One,” he said and Bucky allowed the Soldier full control, granting him nothing but a faded memory of the one good thing he had left in his life.

“Freight car,” he said and the door flew open, allowing Bucky to jump out of his confinement.

The doctor tiptoed towards Bucky cautiously, unsure if his brainwashing had truly worked.

“Soldat?” He prompted as Bucky stood up, not wearing the face of Bucky Barnes but instead bearing the face of the ruthless Winter Soldier. 

“Ready to comply,” the Soldier responded.

The doctor smiled, victorious in his efforts in breaking apart Bucky Barnes and replacing the kind man with the Winter Soldier.

He closed the notebook and looked into the Soldier’s cold, emotionless eyes. “Mission report. December 16, 1991,” he requested.

Barely even ten minutes later, Kat raced down the hallways with a gun she had stolen from one of the guards in her cell.

She past hallways filled with soldiers either groaning in pain on the ground or dead and her heart plummeted into her stomach.

So, someone had triggered the Winter Soldier, she concluded. But who? And why?

Bucky had told her what he thought was most likely to happen if he ever became the Soldier again one night after having a nightmare that he had become the Soldier and killed her, so Kat knew the first place to look for him as she darted down the halls, hoping she reached him before he was gone for good.

She passed by some sort of cafe in the Task Force headquarters just in time to see Bucky pressing Natasha down on a table in a chokehold.

“Shit,” Kat breathed and ran forward. “Bucky!” She called.

She bolted up to him and kicked his side, forcing him away from Natasha so she could finally breathe.

Bucky seemed to be hesitating as to whether or not he should hurt her and Kat frowned.

“Do you recognize me?” She asked.

Before he could answer, T’Challa ran up from behind Bucky and punched him in the shoulder before beginning his attack on him and launching a series of punches and kicks.

“Oh, hell no,” Kat hummed. She jumped up on one of the tables and kicked herself up before jumping onto T’Challa’s back. She wrapped her legs around his waist and put him in a chokehold, granting Bucky enough time to start marching up the steps and make an effort to escape.

However, before he could get through the door, T’Challa grabbed her and flipped her over so she smashed through a table, landing on her back and groaning in pain while T’Challa raced up to Bucky.

When she looked up, she saw T’Challa throwing Bucky down the steps and tumbling after. 

She scrambled up just as T’Challa flung Bucky over the railing.

Kat immediately ran up to Bucky and without hesitation, Bucky grabbed her by her waist and pulled her over his shoulder, carrying her out of the building.

Kat’s mind raced with what he could be planning, but ultimately decided that him not trying to kill her in that moment was better than her having to fight him.

He kicked open a door to the roof and marched up a small flight of steps. He headed over to a helicopter on the roof and opened the door, tossing Kat inside before scooting into the driver’s seat himself.

He buckled Kat up and started the helicopter as she watched him warily, unsure of what to do while Bucky was still the Winter Soldier.

She didn’t want to fight him, but she didn’t know how else to stop him.

Meanwhile, the door to the roof opened and Kat and Bucky both turned to see Steve staring up at them in horror.

“Steve!” Kat exclaimed and his eyes widened when he spotted her in the helicopter.

He darted up towards them and jumped up, latching onto the bottom of the helicopter and single handedly pulling it back down to the ground. 

“No way,” Kat breathed as she watched Bucky glare down at Steve in annoyance.

Bucky tried to move the helicopter to the side and Steve slowly began to move with it, until they approached a railing on the side of the roof.

Steve gripped onto both the helicopter and the railing with everything he had and Kat stared at him, utterly awestruck.

As he was pulling the helicopter towards the roof, Bucky smirked and started toying with the controls.

Kat frowned, trying to process what he was doing when her eyes widened.

“Steve, look out!” Kat cried just as Bucky jerked the controls and sent the helicopter crashing into the roof. 

It spun out of control and Kat bounced around in her seat, hitting her head roughly on the dash.

Before the Soldier did anything, he crawled out of her seat and checked her wound.  He didn’t say anything to her, but knew the super soldier serum would kick in and help her immediately.

The Soldier turned and crashed his hand through the glass of the window, reaching out and grabbing Steve’s neck, choking him.

His metal hand tightened as the helicopter slowly started to tilt off the roof.

“Soldat?” Kat said, feeling the tilting and growing anxious. She knew if she addressed Bucky, the Soldier wouldn’t respond, but either way he was far too focused on killing Steve to pay her any attention. “Soldat?” Kat tried again as the helicopter tilted further off the roof. 

Bucky squeezed Steve’s throat just as the final tilt came and they were thrown off the roof, into the water below.

Kat screamed as they fell and was tossed headfirst into the glass window in the helicopter. 

She blacked out immediately and didn’t notice when the Soldier tried desperately to grab her and swim her up to the surface.

Slowly, water filled his lungs as well and he blacked out, following with her to the sea floor. 

Steve jumped in after them and grabbed the couple, swimming them to the surface and to safer shores. 


	29. The Other Winter Soldiers

Kat groaned as she sat up in the dingy bed, clutching her head roughly as she winced at the pounding pain.

Within seconds, Sam was by her side, checking her vitals.

“You alright?” He prompted and she nodded.

“Yeah,” she sighed. “Where’s Bucky?”

“In a room down there. We had to secure his arm. He kept trying to choke us,” Sam explained and she nodded.

He gave her a bottle of water and she sipped it gratefully. 

“Where are we?” She wondered.

“Safe house,” Sam shrugged. “Ever since that stunt with you and Bucky breaking out of your cells, we’ve got every police force on Earth hunting us down.”

“You know that technically wasn’t my fault, right? I had to break out in order to minimize the damage Bucky was bound to cause,” Kat explained.

“Yeah, I get that. How did you know he was the Winter Soldier, though?” Sam wondered.

“Bucky was strapped up to an electric chair, in a cell virtually powered by electricity. We were publically brought to the Task Force Headquarters. If someone wanted to use the well-known brainwashed Winter Soldier as a weapon, they could easily just knock out the power and trigger him. It doesn’t take much because his brainwashing was so deeply rooted. It’s not difficult to figure out once you think about it,” Kat said.

Sam nodded. “Alright, I’ll give you that. But Steve told me what he saw. The Soldier wanted to protect you. Do you know why?”

“No clue,” Kat shrugged. “I mean I have a few guesses, but none of them make sense. I’m sticking to, this was a miracle and I’m lucky my boyfriend didn’t try to murder me,” she sighed and Sam smirked. 

“Well, alright then,” Sam chuckled. “Do you think you’re up for seeing him?”

Kat frowned down at her bandaged up calf and pressed gentle fingers to her forehead where there was also a small bandage. The wounds had probably already healed, but she was slightly surprised how much damage she took in the battles when it seemed the others had walked away scot-free.

“Yeah,” she nodded.

“Okay, I’m not sure if he’s regained consciousness yet, but either way I know you probably just wanna see his face, right?”

“Yeah,” Kat nodded again.

“Okay, let’s go then,” Sam said, helping her up off the bed and leading her to the large room where they were holding Bucky.

His metal arm had been forced down and he seemed exhausted, but nevertheless, Kat immediately ran up to him.

He started groaning in pain, wincing as he saw his arm held captive.

Kat smiled at him, tears welling up in her eyes as she held his face.

“Hey,” he whispered. He frowned as he gently traced her bandaid on her forehead.

“It’s just a scrape.” She assured him. “Probably already healed.”

He nodded. “Did I hurt you?”

“No,” Kat shook her head. “You didn’t hurt me.”

“Steve!” Sam called, waving his friend into the room.

Steve ran in and Kat moved so Bucky could look up at him without her in the way. She stood by the doorway watching the scene unfold warily.

“Steve,” Bucky sighed.

“Which Bucky am I talking to?” Steve asked, still holding his guard up.

Kat winced. She knew the precaution was necessary, but it still felt like taking a bullet when she saw Bucky’s pain as his friend talked to him in such a harsh tone.

Bucky took a deep breath. “Your mom’s name was Sarah,” he hesitated, wondering if he should go further. He started to chuckle at the memory he wanted to say. “You used to put newspapers in your shoes,” he laughed.

“And you used to take them out and hit me with them,” Steve smiled.

“Just like that, we’re supposed to be cool?” Sam prompted and Kat rolled her eyes.

“Sam!” She hissed.

“What?”

“Shut up!”

“What did I do?” Bucky asked, glancing at Steve and Kat.

“Enough,” she nodded and he sucked in a sharp breath.

“Oh, God, I knew this would happen,” Bucky sighed. “I told you this was coming,” he said to Kat and she nodded.

“I’m sorry, I just thought-.”

“We should’ve left while we still had the chance,” Bucky said.

“You said yourself you didn’t want to leave unless there was an attack,” Kat argued.

“Everything Hydra put in me is still there, Kat. All he had to do was say the goddamn words,” Bucky said and she closed her eyes as tears streamed down her face.

“I’m sorry,” she said one last time before running off.

Steve turned to Sam and they exchanged a nod before Sam took off running in the same direction Kat fled.

“Who was he?” Steve asked and Bucky shook his head.

“I don’t know,” Bucky replied honestly.

“People are dead. The bombing, the setup, the doctor did all that just to get ten minutes with you. I need you to do better than ‘I don’t know’,” Steve insisted.

Bucky narrowed his eyes, frowning as he forced his mind back to the unclear state he was in when he was the Winter Soldier. “He wanted to know about Siberia,” he said. “Where I was kept,” Bucky explained at Steve’s look of confusion. “He wanted to know exactly where.”

“Why would he wanna know that?” Steve wondered.

Bucky took a deep breath and prepared to tell Steve the secret that he had only ever told Kat. “Because I’m not the only Winter Soldier,” he said and Steve’s heart stopped.

Meanwhile, outside, Sam was sitting with Kat as she rested her head on his shoulder.

“Why did he snap at you?” Sam wondered.

They had spent the first few minutes calming Kat’s tears and now they had managed to sit together and speak about Bucky without her being upset.

Kat shrugged. “It’s the Soldier. Hydra ripped him to shreds, Sam, and they didn’t even let Bucky keep the pieces. I’ve seen the Soldier a couple times before, never for as long as today though. Usually, it was just in the middle of the night after nightmares about Hydra. He always beats himself up afterwards. He always thinks it’s his fault because he knew what he was doing but was unable to stop it. But the worst part is, for seventy years his mind was trained to give mission reports after he attacks people. He snaps because people are treating him with kindness when they should be looking at him as nothing other than a weapon, made to do a job and then be tossed in the ice again.”

“It’s been over a year. He still thinks that way?”

Kat nodded. “Which I know, I mean, I signed up for this, but that doesn’t exactly make it easier to hear him be so angry with me.”

“I guess there are a lot more consequences when dating a brainwashed assassin,” Sam chuckled.

Kat rolled her eyes. “I knew everything that could come when we started dating. Worst case and best case scenarios, but it still hurts every time I have to deal with something that some non-genetically enhanced couple wouldn’t have to.”

“Oh, I’m Kat Hastings, by body is superior to my best friend’s but I still have reasons to complain,” Sam imitated.

“Shut up!” Kat laughed as she punched him in the side. 

“You know that’s never gonna work on me, Katty,” Sam smirked and Kat groaned.

“I hate you.”

“No, you don’t,” Sam grinned. “Do you wanna head back inside, though? I’m getting anxious with all these helicopters flying around.”

“Yeah,” Kat sighed. “Help me up,” she requested, holding out her hand.

“No,” Sam scoffed. “You’re genetically enhanced. You don’t need help up. Help your own damn self up.”

Kat rolled her eyes, standing up and slapping Sam on the arm. “Why have I stayed friends with you all these years?”

“My rugged good looks?” Sam guessed. “My charming sense of humor?”

“No, maybe it’s the fact that I pity you,” Kat said and Sam glared at her as she laughed.

“Hey, well fuck you too, missy,” Sam said and Kat giggled as they headed inside.

They went to the room Bucky and Steve were still staying in and Sam nodded to Steve, silently telling him that everything was okay as he passed him. 

“Who were they?” Steve asked.

“Their most elite death squad. More kills than anyone in Hydra history,” Bucky exclaimed and Kat’s eyes widened.

Bucky had told her about the other Winter Soldiers while they were in Romania. Kat had asked why Hydra wasn’t looking harder for him if he was their only Winter Soldier. I mean, if you only had one assassin that had brought in that many kills over seventy years, wouldn’t you want him back? That’s when he had taken the time to explain to her that after the success with his serum, Hydra started taking in more recruits to become super soldiers. However, the Soldiers were far greater than they could’ve imagined and brought in far more kills than Bucky had ever accomplished on his own.

Kat was horrified by the assassinations they had pulled off. The Soldiers still lived in her nightmares to that day.

“And that was before the serum,” Bucky mumbled.

“They all turn out like you?” Sam asked.

“Worse,” Kat breathed, looking down at the ground in terror.

“The doctor, could he control them?” Steve asked and Bucky looked up at Kat.

She gave him a small nod and he sighed. “Enough,” he said, delivering the grave news to the men.

Steve took a deep breath. “He said he wanted to see an empire fall,” Steve remembered.

“With these guys, he could do it,” Kat scoffed and Bucky nodded in agreement.

“They speak thirty languages, can hide in plain sight, infiltrate, assassinate, destabilize. They can take a whole country down in one night and you’d never see them coming,” Bucky explained and Sam walked over to Steve to analyze their situation while Kat walked over to Bucky and knelt by his side.

“I’m sorry,” Bucky breathing, cupping her cheek with his metal hand. “I got scared,” he admitted. “I haven’t been the sole reason for you being at danger since we first met.”

“I know,” Kat nodded, looking down. “I don’t blame you for it. You know me, I hardly ever blame you for anything you do. Even when it’s your fault,” she mumbled. “If I was in your situation I probably would’ve done the same thing anyway, so I’m not mad at you.”

“I never wanna be the reason you cry,” Bucky told her. “If I’m honest, the second you ran out I wanted to run out after you and apologize a thousand times.”

“You don’t have to,” Kat shook her head. “We were both stupid and reckless in Romania. We should’ve left earlier but we didn’t, and that’s on both of us.”

Bucky sighed and looked up at Steve and Sam. “We really got ourselves into a big one this time, huh?”

Kat grinned and looked back at the men as well. “I dunno, I like a challenge,” she said and Bucky chuckled. “I’m up for it if you are?”

“You know, wherever you go, I go,” Bucky said simply.

Kat smiled and kissed him sweetly. “I love you.”

“I love you too.”

“Alright, lovebirds, break it up!” Sam snapped. Kat rolled her eyes and turned to Sam. “We have a plan. It’s not gonna be pretty, but it’s the only way we can get to those other Winter Soldiers.”

Kat frowned. “What is it?”

“We have to steal a jet.” 


	30. The Escape of Wanda Maximoff

“You’re overreacting!” Kat cried.

“Am I?” Bucky raised an eyebrow. “I don’t like the thought of you risking your life when I’m not there.”

“Do you really wanna fight someone right after the Task Force?” Kat said.

“That’s not the point.”

“No, the point is. Wanda will help me if I need it, and I’ll only be in there ten, maybe twenty minutes tops before we’re on our way to the airport.”

“It’s just,” Bucky sighed and she smiled, leaning down into the window.

“I know we haven’t been apart long since the tower, but you have to trust me on this. I promise I won’t die before I get back to you.”

Bucky smirked. “Swear?”

“I swear,” she nodded before leaning down and kissing him.

“Eugh, get a room!” Sam exclaimed.

Kat rolled her eyes, backing away and waving to the car. “See you in a couple hours!”

“See you in a bit,” Steve nodded. “And Kat?”

“Yeah?”

“Thanks for this.”

“No problem, I’ve been missing Wanda anyway,” Kat shrugged before heading into the woods outside the tower.

She pulled a pack of matches out of her pocket and she set as many trees on fire as possible, having a hell of a good time while she was at it. Needless to say, Kat had been very happy when Steve asked her to create a distraction for Vision, who was watching out for Wanda at the time and certainly wouldn’t allow her to leave with an international criminal.

When the fire was large enough, she dropped her matches and ran into the tower, going up several flights to the main floor where Wanda’s room and the living room were held.

She walked up behind her carefully, watching as the girl was transfixed by the burning light just outside.

However, as she thought the woman was distracted, Wanda turned rapidly, grabbing a knife off the table with her powers and pointing it directly at Kat’s head. Kat snorted and pushed the blade away from her face.

“I guess I should’ve knocked,” Kat smirked.   

The knife rattled as it hit the ground when Wanda let go of it, realizing that there was no imminent danger there.

“Oh, my God,” Wanda sighed, running up to Kat and wrapping her in a tight hug. It had been ages since she had seen her best friend and over the past few months the only updates she had gotten were word of mouth and the news. It was torturous considering there was once a time when she had been the only one in contact with Kat, always knowing where she was “What are you doing here?” She asked as she pulled away.

“Upsetting Bucky,” Kat chuckled. She dug into her bag and pulled out two electro shockers Sharon had managed to nab from the Task Force. She tossed them on both sides of the wall by the window. After she was done, she turned to Wanda with a grin. “He’s so protective, it’s adorable.” She sighed and looked back at the window, making sure the Vision wasn’t nearby.

“Steve needs our help,” Kat said. “Come on,” she said, grabbing Wanda’s hand and rushing out before Vision could fade through the wall.

“Kat!” Vision exclaimed and the two girls froze. “You should not be here.”

“Really?” Kat scoffed. “I leave you guys alone for what? Like five minutes and it all goes to shit.”

“Please consider the consequences of your actions,” Vision said.

Kat bit her lip and pretended to think. “Okay, they’re considered.”

Right after she said that, the electro shockers detected Vision’s motion and electrocuted the ground around him, effectively electrocuting Vision as well.

“Now, we really gotta go,” Kat hummed, darting past Wanda. She only turned when Wanda stood in the same place, frozen, anxiously pulling her sleeves over her hands.

Kat frowned. “It’s this way,” she said, pointing to the elevator doors.

Wanda took a shaky breath. “I’ve caused enough problems,” she said, looking down at the ground.

Kat sighed and hung her head, running back to the little witch. “You gotta help me, Wanda. I get that you’re upset about what you did in Lagos. Hell, I would be too. But this is not the way to make amends. Nothing’s gonna change if you sit around here moping all the time. Except you’ll grow even less confident in your powers and probably put on a lot of weight. So, you wanna do what’s right? Well, then you get off your ass and you fight for what you think is right.”

She looked up just in time to see Vision aiming his infinity stone at the electro shockers. “Shit,” Kat muttered as he fired at the second shocker and it exploded.

Kat pulled out her blade and tried to stab him in the chest, but the blade just went right through him. His body became solid as he hit her in the face multiple times.

She tried to scratch his skin with one of her blades and the blade snapped as he made his body rock hard. Kat tried to punch him, but wound up hurting her own hand against his face.

Before she could try to do anything else, he grabbed her arm and wrapped her in a chokehold.

“Kat, you can’t overpower me,” Vision warned as Kat gasped for breath.

“I know I can’t,” Kat choked out as she watched Wanda grow angry over what she was seeing Vision do. “But she can,” she said, smirking at Wanda.

Red lights started flickering across Wanda’s fingertips and soon enough she stepped before them with a large red glowing ball of energy buzzing between her hands.

“Vision, that’s enough let her go,” Wanda said sternly. “I’m leaving.”

“I can’t let you,” Vision replied simply.

That was the breaking point for Wanda. She pulled her hands apart and revealed a long stream of red energy, hissing as it took control of Vision’s infinity stone. Kat fell through Vision’s arm and landed on the ground with a thud, gasping for air as Vision stared at her in horror, before turning to look at his own body, which he had lost control of.

“I’m sorry,” Wanda breathed.

Red lights flowed across Vision’s body looking menacing as Wanda slowly pushed Vision through the floor.

Wanda slowly closed her hands, overwhelmed with the control she had over Vision’s body.

“If you do this, they will never stop being afraid of you,” Vision warned.

Kat clenched her jaw and glared at Vision as she saw up on the crumbling ground beneath her. That was the one thing she had been terrified of when she was injected with the super soldier serum. She was scared to death that people would be afraid of her. Especially, her closest friends. She couldn’t even begin to imagine the Avengers being scared of her.

So, she ran and tried to learn to be confident in herself, no matter what others may think of her new abilities.

Because in the end, it never matters what they think, so long as she was confident in herself and didn’t base her value on the opinions of others. She was capable of so much more and she deserved to show pride in that.

“I can’t control their fear, only my own,” Wanda replied strongly and Kat grinned.

She focused her powers on him more intensely and sent him flying through the floor as well as the hundreds of other floors below them, until kat eventually believed Vision was nearing the center of the Earth.

When he was nothing more than a red speck to them, the two girls shared a look.

“Well, you’ve done a shit ton of damage to the place, but on the bright side we may never be coming back,” Kat said optimistically, flashing a grin at Wanda.

The witch laughed and grabbed Kat’s hand before running out by her side.

"We need to steal a car, by the way," Kat mentioned as they headed into the elevator.

"What?" Wanda frowned, thinking Steve and the others were outside waiting for them. 

"Yeah, long story. I'll tell you on the way. But on the bright side, we get to fight a couple super soldiers that are bent on taking over the world," Kat flashed an anxious smile.

"I'm starting to think this was a bad idea," Wanda murmured.

"Oh, it'll be great," Kat assured her with a large grin. The elevator dinged open on the garage and Kat beamed at the dozens of cars. "Now, which of Tony's cars is your favorite?"

~~~

Kat and Wanda arrived at the airport at the same time as Clint. They hopped out of the car and Kat grinned at Bucky. She ran up to him and they immediately hugged. He frowned at the bruise around her eye, delicately tracing it with his finger.

“What the hell is this?” He asked.

“Oh, Vision gave me a rough beating. I guess it’s taking longer to heal seeing as his hand felt like it was made out of stone.”

Bucky took a deep breath and clenched his jaw. “I’ll kill him,” he grumbled and Kat rolled her eyes, grabbing his wrist before he could move.

“No, Bucky, I’m fine. Just kiss me and tell me you missed me, you idiot,” Kat smirked.

He grinned and wrapped his arms around her waist. “That, I can do,” he said before pressing his lips against hers.

Meanwhile, Steve was greeting his girlfriend as well. He had his arms wrapped around her waist while hers were draped comfortably over his shoulders.

“Thank you for doing this,” Steve mumbled. “I know you’ve been worried about going out ever since Lagos-,” he began and she shook her head, placing a finger on his lips.

“It’s alright,” Wanda promised. “It was time for me to get off my ass and start making a difference anyway.”

“Are you sure about this? Because I could always ask-,” Steve began and Wanda cut him off again.

“I’ll be okay, though your concern is quite adorable,” Wanda grinned and Steve blushed.

Just then, Clint hopped out of his van and waved to Steve.

“Hey,” Clint nodded.

“Hey, I just wanted to say thanks for your help,” Steve said, wrapping his arm around Wanda’s shoulders. “I know you have a family back home and probably have much better things to do than helping us out here.”

Clint chuckled and shook his head. “It’s fine. My wife even said herself that I looked way too happy to be back in the old suit. It’s who I am,” Clint shrugged before frowning as he peered over Steve’s shoulder at Bucky and a woman he didn’t recognize. “Who’s the new girl?”

Steve frowned and looked back, only then realizing that Clint and Kat had never formally met.

“Oh, that’s, uh, Kat Hastings. She became a doctor for Bucky and Wanda just after you left. She started dating Buck and was kidnapped by Hydra. They put the super soldier serum in her and now she’s fighting with us,” Steve quickly explained.

“Ah, so everyone’s got some sad backstory nowadays,” Clint nodded and Steve chuckled.

“Seems like it,” Steve said. He peered at the van warily. “How about our other recruit?” Steve asked.

Clint turned to the van. “He’s raring to go,” he announced as he opened the door revealing a handsome man sleeping across the seats. “I put a little coffee in him, but,” Clint opened the door all the way and it slammed across the van, making the man jump awake and making Kat giggle at him. “He should be good,” Clint shrugged.

The man seemed confused by where he was and who was surrounding him. Steve and Sam shared a look, Steve silently warning Sam that this guy better be worth the travel across countries.

“What time zone is this?” The man asked.

“Come on,” Clint said simply.

Clint pushed him forward and the man walked up to Steve with wide eyes and a dazed grin on his face. “Captain America,” he breathed, shaking Steve’s hand enthusiastically.

“Mr Lang,” Steve nodded.

“It’s an honor,” Lang said before looking down at their still shaking hands. “I’m shaking your hand too long,” he remarked and Kat snorted, burying her face in Bucky’s shoulder so she didn’t insult the new guy.

“Wow, this is awesome!” Lang exclaimed, turning to Wanda. “Captain America,” he said, gesturing to Steve, clearly starstruck. He did a double take looking back at Wanda. “I know you too, you’re great!” He grinned and Kat smiled as she watched Wanda’s face light up.

Clearly, she was ecstatic not to be known as the girl who blew up a hospital in Lagos. Instead, she was the great girl that made Lang awestruck.

Lang turned back to Steve and took a deep breath, gripping his arms in surprise and happiness.

Steve turned back to Bucky and Kat, raising an eyebrow at them while they both tried to cover their laughter.

“Look, I gotta say,” Lang sighed. “I know you know a lot of super people. Thanks for thinking of me,” he said and Steve shrugged.

Lang turned to Sam and grinned, playfully trying to act like they were best buds. “Hey, man!” He exclaimed.

“Hold on,” Kat frowned. “This is the tic tac?!” She exclaimed, with a small laugh. “The guy who beat you half to death and was no bigger than my thumb?!”

“Yeah, uh, who are you?” Lang asked.

“Kat Hastings,” Kat smiled. “Pleasure to finally meet the guy that made my best friend look like a damn idiot.”

“Scott Lang,” he waved to himself. “Pleasure to be that guy,” he grinned. “But, yeah, uh, about what happened last time, it was-.”

“It was a great audition,” Sam cut him off. “But it’ll,” he chuckled. “It’ll never happen again,” he warned and Scott nodded firmly, clearly understanding the threat.

“They tell you what we’re up against?” Steve asked.

Scott frowned, trying to remember everything Clint had told him throughout the time zones. “Something about some psycho assassins?” Scott guessed and Steve shot Clint a look before taking a deep breath.

“We’re outside the law on this one,” Steve warned. “So, if you come with us you’re a wanted man.”

“Yeah, well, what else is new,” Scott sighed and Kat grinned.

“I like you, Lang,” Kat said and Scott grinned.

“Thanks!” He exclaimed.

“Alright, everybody, suit up!” Steve instructed and Kat and Bucky shared a look before grabbing their suits out of the back of the trunk.


	31. United We Stand, Divided We Fall

Steve ran up through the airport. They had to get transportation out of there one way or another and hopefully he could get to a helicopter before Tony and the other Avengers arrived and tried to stop them.

He ran towards the helicopter and was just feet away from it when the roof was electrocuted from something fired above.

He looked up just in time to see Tony and Rhodey flying towards him in their Iron Man and War Machine suits.

It seemed everyone was expecting a fight.

They landed in front of him, blocking his path to the helicopter.

“Wow, it’s so weird how you run into people at the airport,” Tony remarked. “Don’t you think that’s weird?” Tony asked Rhodey as he took off his helmet. 

“Definitely weird,” Rhodey nodded.

“Hear me out, Tony,” Steve requested. “That doctor, the psychiatrist, he’s behind all of this.”

Just then, he heard a metal bar loudly echoing off to his right. He turned and saw T’Challa jumping forward and landing by his side. 

“Captain,” T’Challa said in greeting.

“Your Highness,” Steve said, nodding his head in the same manner.

“Anyway,” Tony sighed. “Ross gave me 36 hours to bring you in. That was 24 hours ago. Can you help a brother out?”

“You’re after the wrong guy,” Steve said simply. 

“Your judgment is askew,” Tony retorted. “Your old war buddy killed innocent people yesterday.”

“And there are five more super soldiers just like him,” Steve nodded.

“Don’t tell me, his little girlfriend is one of them?” Tony scoffed. “This is getting us nowhere.”

“I can’t let the doctor get to those super soldiers first, Tony. I can’t,” Steve said.

“Steve,” Natasha breathed, walking up behind him. Steve stared at her with wide eyes. He knew she signed the Accords, but he never imagined he’d have to fight her over it. “You know what’s about to happen. Do you really wanna punch your way out of this one?”

He took a deep breath and turned back to Tony with his jaw clenched, signalling that he was not backing down on this one.

Tony sighed and rolled his eyes. “Alright, I’ve run out of patience.” He looked up and placed his hands around his mouth like a microphone. “Underoos!” He shouted. 

From the sky, a boy in a red and blue leotard came flying, shooting out sticky webs and stealing Steve’s shield with one hand, while he used the other hand to cuff Steve’s hands together with his webs.

He landed astonishingly on a nearby truck, clutching Steve’s shield and looking up with the same awestruck grin Scott had worn barely an hour before.

“Nice job, kid,” Tony remarked.

“Thanks,” the kid grinned. “Well, I could have stuck the landing a little better, it’s just, new suit.” He froze and looked up at Tony. “Wait, it’s nothing, Mr Stark” he promised, holding up a finger. “It’s perfect. Thank you,” he rambled.

“Yeah, we don’t really need to start a conversation,” Tony sighed. 

“Okay,” he nodded. “Cap. Captain,” he saluted. “Big fan. I’m Spider-Man,” he said, gesturing to the black spider symbol on his chest. 

Steve grinned, amused by the kid. Tony tried to get someone on his side and the kid wound up talking about how much he loves Captain America.

“Yeah, we’ll talk about it late,” Tony said, clenching his jaw.

“Hey, everyone,” the kid said, waving to the large group of people.

“Just… Good job,” Tony sighed in exhaustion.

“You’ve been busy,” Steve remarked, nodding to the kid in the spider suit.

“And you’ve been a complete idiot,” Tony snapped. “Dragging in Clint, ‘rescuing’ Wanda from a place she doesn’t even want to leave. A safe place.”

Steve sighed in irritation and boredom as Tony listed all his crimes which were basically, him calling in his friends and his girlfriend and asking them for help.

“I’m trying to keep…,” he trailed off and took a deep breath, frustrated that they had even reached this point. “I’m trying to keep you from tearing the Avengers apart.”

“You did that when you signed,” Steve said simply and Tony’s heart shattered in his chest. 

“Alright, we’re done,” Tony muttered. “You’re gonna turn Barnes and Hastings over, you’re gonna come with us, now, because it’s us,” Tony said as though that should be enough of a reason. He had fought with the Avengers. He had stood by their side for the months Barnes and Hastings had run off to Romania without him. Tony figured the choice was obvious for Steve. “Or you can go with a squad of J-SOC guys with no compunction about being impolite,” Tony warned. “Come on,” he whispered, desperate to have his best friend by his side again.

Meanwhile, in Steve’s comms unit, Sam’s voice finally spoke out.

“We found it,” Sam announced.

Redwing, Sam’s robotic flying bird acted like a mini computer, scanning the area and eventually finding the quinjet, otherwise known as their way out of there and to the compound where the other five super soldiers were being kept. It sent the images back to Sam.

“Their Quinjet’s in hangar five, north runway,” Sam said. 

Steve nodded and lifted his hands over his head. In the floor above them, Clint, Wanda, and Kat all sat watching over the scene. Clint pulled out an arrow and shot straight between Steve’s hands, ripping the webs that were cuffing him to shreds. 

“Nice shot,” Kat remarked with an impressed nod.

“Thanks,” Clint smirked. 

For the first time ever, Kat was wearing her outfit for combat. 

She had on a black crop top and tights, a black utility belt loaded up with weapons and knee high formfitting boots.

Her hair was pulled up in a tight ponytail, every small strand pulled out of her face.

Meanwhile, on the ground, Tony immediately put on his helmet after the sight of Clint’s arrow flying through the air.

“Alright, Lang,” Steve said into the comms.

On Steve’s shield, Scott climbed onto the top of Steve’s shield, invisible to Spider-Man in his ant man suit, appearing to be no bigger than a tic tac.

“Hey guys, something,” Spider-Man began as he felt the shield starting to rock. However, before he could finish his sentence, Scott punched him roughly, making him flip over as Scott grew to his full size and grabbed Steve’s shield.

“Whoa,” Rhodey gasped. “What the hell was that?!”

Scott ran back to Steve and passed the shield back to him. “I believe this is yours, Captain America,” Scott said.

“Oh, great,” Tony sighed, knowing a fight was dawning on them. He began scanning the decks immediately to figure out who else he would have to fight. “Alright, there’s three on the parking deck,” Tony announced. “One of them’s Maximoff. Another is Hastings. I’m gonna grab them,” he said as he started flying off. “Rhodey, you wanna take Cap?”

“Got two in the terminal,” Rhodey said. “Wilson and Barnes.”

“Barnes is mine!” T’Challa cried before running towards the terminal.

“Hey, Mr Stark,” Spider-Man called into the comms. “What should I do?”

“What we discussed,” Tony frowned, annoyed that he had to babysit when he was supposed to be arresting his friends. “Keep your distance, web them up,” he instructed.

“Okay, copy that!” He exclaimed before using his webs to pull himself up to the terminal of the airport. 

Meanwhile, Steve chased after T’Challa, desperate to stop him from attacking his best friend’s yet again over something that wasn’t their fault.

He threw his shield at T’Challa’s back, effectively knocking him to the ground. He got right back up though and Steve ran faster, wrapping his hands around T’Challa’s neck and flinging him over his body.

T’Challa rolled before standing up and glaring at Steve. “Move, Captain,” he ordered. “I won’t ask a second time.”

He gave Steve all of five seconds before jumping up and launching a series of kicks at him, all being deflected by Steve’s shield.

Meanwhile, across the airport, Scott seemed to be negotiating with Natasha rather than actually trying to stop her.

“Look, I really don’t want to hurt you,” he confessed to her. 

“I wouldn’t stress about it,” Natasha smirked before kneeing him in the groin.

He cried out in pain and she grabbed his arm and twisted it all the way around.

Scott finally decided that maybe he should make an exception and hurt this one girl. He transformed into his ant form and grabbed her wrist before flinging her onto the ground.

He tried to launch his next attack but before he could, she pressed a button on her wrist and electrocuted him, sending him flying into the side of the truck they were fighting beside.

At the same time in the terminal, Bucky and Sam were running across the floor, desperately just trying to get outside and to the quinjet. 

Across the ceiling, a strange red and blew figure flew, shooting webs around the roof.

“What the hell is that?” Bucky frowned.

“Everyone’s got a gimmick now,” Sam sighed, rolling his eyes at the sight.

Spider-Man was clearly irritated by the comment, because his next few actions were taken to swing to the ground and kick Sam through the glass window of a nearby shop.

He turned to Bucky automatically and stopped his metal fist before it could hit him.

“You have a metal arm?!” He exclaimed, tilting Bucky’s arm so he could get a better look at how the arm was shaped perfectly for Bucky’s muscles. 

Bucky stared at the kid with horrified wide eyes. That voice could only belong to a kid. He couldn’t hurt a kid.

He had hurt enough people in his life. He didn’t want to add a kid to that list.

“That is awesome, dude,” Spider-Man complimented him, totally unaware that they should be fighting at that moment.

However, he quickly remembered when Sam flew into him and grabbed the kid quickly while Bucky stepped back and raked his fingers through his hair in shock, trying desperately to process what just happened.

“You have the right to remain silent!” Spider-Man cried, trying to pull himself out of Sam’s grasp, irritating him as he tried to pull off his glasses.

Sam quickly gave up and threw the kid off of him, only to have him use his webs to jump up to the ceiling before he could fall to the ground. 

Meanwhile, outside, Tony followed Clint, Wanda, and Kat, shooting at them and purposefully missing but trying to scare them into turning themselves in.

He blew up every item by their sides along their pathway.

Clint and Kat remained calm, but Wanda was terrified every time he blew something.

It was safe to say, Tony Stark was giving Wanda PTSD on the battlefield.

Tony swung around and started blowing up items even closer to them and Wanda fell to the ground and clung to Kat’s leg desperately.

“Wanda, I know you’re scared, but right now we have to go,” Kat said, watching warily as Tony neared them.

“Come on!” Clint called.

“Pietro,” Wanda breathed, shaking violently as if she were in the Arctic wearing nothing but a tank top. 

“Wanda,” Kat sighed, pulling her best friend up and looking into her dilated pupils. “Look at me,” she requested and Wanda looked at her with tear filled eyes. “Hold my hand and I promise it’ll be over soon.”

Wanda took a shaky breath and nodded, gripping her hand so tightly Kat worried she might break her hand as they ran towards Clint.

Across the battlefield, T’Challa left claw marks on Steve’s shield as he scratched his way down it.

When Steve pulled the shield away, he managed to dodge every punch T’Challa threw at him. T’Challa quickly got frustrated and pulled out his claws again, just in time to have Steve throw up his shield.

“Sorry, Cap, this won’t kill you,” Rhodey sighed as he pulled out a large stick sparking with thousands of watts of electricity. “But it ain’t gonna tickle either,” he said as T’Challa kicked Steve backwards onto his back.

Steve landed on the ground with a grunt and immediately threw up his shield the second Rhodey flew over to him and slammed the electric stick onto his shield.

Meanwhile, as Clint, Wanda, and Kat all approached the parking garage, Tony flew up to them and Kat gave Wanda’s hand a reassuring squeeze before stepping away.

“Wanda, I think you hurt Vision’s feelings,” Tony chuckled. 

Wanda clenched her jaw and glared at him. “You locked me in my room,” she snapped and Kat smirked at her.

She greatly admired the strong Sokovian woman. She had gone through so much and she grew enough that she could play it off like it was nothing. 

“Okay, first that’s an exaggeration,” Tony corrected, still pointing his hand, which was loaded with his blaster, at them. “Second, I did it to protect you.”

Wanda tilted her head curiously, as if the very idea of being locked in a room protecting her was amusing.

Tony turned to Kat and Clint.

“Hey, Kat,” Tony nodded.

“Tony,” she smirked.

“No offense after the whole psychiatric thing, right? I mean I was kinda forced into it, seeing as you were dating a trained assassin.”

Kat rolled her eyes. “Rest assured, Tony. When it comes to Bucky, I will  _ always _ take offense,” she promised.

“Great,” Tony sighed. “Hey, Clint.”

“Hey, man,” Clint smiled.

“Clearly retirement doesn’t suit you,” Tony remarked. “You got tired of shooting golf?”

“Well, I played 18, shot 18. Just can’t seem to miss,” Clint smirked.

He fired an arrow, effectively distracting Tony as he blew up the arrow immediately. 

“First time for everything,” Tony shrugged.

Clint grinned. “Made you look,” he chuckled, high fiving Kat as Wanda focused her powers in the hundreds of cars in the parking garage.

Slowly they all came crashing down to the ground, encased in a red glow as the sheer number of them began to overwhelm Tony just looking at them.

Tony at first tried to shoot them, but quickly discovered that wouldn’t work and tried to swerve away from them, but soon there were far too many, flying out at him from every angle. 

Dozens of cars crashed down on Tony and smashed him into the ground, trapping him in that place.

Meanwhile, in the terminal, Sam was rapidly flying away from Spider-Man as he swung around the railings, knocking down multiple signs as he followed the bird man.

Sam spun around and started firing rounds, but the kid jumped up and dodged the bullets before Sam could even get one shot.

Bucky ran up and flung one of the fallen signs up to the kid. 

“Oh, God!” Spider-Man cried, just nearly dodging the sign.

Bucky hid behind a pole as Spider-Man flew over to where the sign dropped and picked it up.

“Hey, buddy, I think you dropped this!” Spider-Man called and Bucky foolishly looked around the pole as the sign came flying towards him and crashed into the pole, making a dent in the metal.

Spider-Man took a moment to smirk at his work and Sam used that opportunity to fly up and kick him of his high horse. He tried desperately to bring the kid all the way down to the ground, but he shot his web and jumped up before he got the chance. 

The kid shot his webs perfectly and destroyed Sam’s wings, sending him crashing onto the ground, destroying a mini stand up shop along the way. 

As Sam tried to get up, Spider-Man shot out a web and trapped his hand to the stair railing.

Spider-Man flew down in front of Sam.

“Those wings carbon fiber?” He asked.

“Is this stuff coming out of you?” Sam asked, glancing at the webs trapping both of his hands.

“That would explain the rigidity-flexibility ratio, which, gotta say, that’s awesome man,” he shrugged. 

“I don’t know if you’ve been in a fight before, but there’s usually not this much talking,” Sam snapped.

“Alright, sorry,” he sighed. “My bad.”

Spider-Man jumped up and was about to shoot Sam with his webs again, but Sam jumped in front of him just in time and they crashed through the glass railing to the ground floor, both landing on their backs with simultaneous groans of pain.

He jumped up and shot his webs again, wrapping Sam up in the mess and shooting his web towards Bucky’s hand, trapping the pair there.

“Guys, look, I’d love to keep this up, but I’ve only got one job here today, and I gotta impress Mr Stark, so, I’m really sorry,” he sighed, genuinely apologetic that he had to leave the two men he had grown to admire during their time fighting.

Before he could hit them with another web, Redwing zoomed through the building and latching onto his web, flying him through the glass walling and out of the terminal.

Bucky turned and glared at Sam. “You couldn’t have done that earlier?” He asked.

Sam sighed. “I hate you.”

Outside, Rhodey flew towards Steve and Steve did a backflip before kicking him to the ground and breaking his electric stick. Then, he turned to T’Challa, and jumped up, kicking him across the ground.

Steve was growing overwhelmed taking on the pair of them as Rhodey stood up and tossed his broken electric stick to the side.

“Great,” Rhodey sighed.

Behind Steve, Scott ran up, offering the Captain help when he needed it most.

“Hey, Cap, heads-up!” Scott called, tossing him a small object that looked like a toy truck. “Throw it at this,” Scott instructed, holding up a small metal circular object with a shining blue light in the middle.

Scott looked towards Rhodey and T’Challa and took a deep breath. “Now!” He cried, throwing the object into the air.

Steve did as he instructed and threw the truck into the air, when it hit the object, it enlarged greatly and fell to the ground.

T’Challa and Natasha managed to just barely dodge the explosion, but Rhodey was right in the center of where the truck crashed.

“Oh, come on!” Rhodey yelled as he was smashed to the ground by the truck.

Scott winced again. “Oh, man, I thought it was a water truck,” Scott muttered. Steve turned and glared at Scott and he shrugged. “Uh, sorry,” he said before the pair took off running in the opposite direction.

“Alright, now I’m pissed,” Rhodey grumbled as he got up.

Tony helped Natasha at the ground and glanced back at where Scott and Steve had run off.

“Is this part of the plan?” Natasha asked sarcastically. 

“Well, my plan was to go easy on them,” Tony said. “You wanna switch it up?”

Across the airport, Clint, Kat and Wanda all ran together.

Clint pointed up to the quinjet not too far from them. “There’s our ride.”

“Finally,” Kat sighed and Wanda chuckled as she nodded in agreement.

They ran forwards and from their left and right, Steve and Scott darted in front of them, running towards the quinjet.

“Come on!” Steve called, waving to Sam and Bucky who darted in from their right and raced towards the quinjet as well.

If they could just get to the quinjet, they would be in the clear. They wouldn’t have to fight their friends anymore and they wouldn’t have to risk their lives to avoid arrest.

Instead, they would follow the plan and all seven of them would head to the Hydra base and stop the doctor and the soldiers before they got to the outside world.

They were a team until the end.

However, before they could get to the quinjet, a bright beam shined down and created a line in the cement in front of them, forcing them all to stop.

They looked up and Vision flew up above them, looking like a god shining above the mortals.

“How did he get from the center of the Earth so fast?” Kat breathed.

“Your guess is a good as mine,” Wanda shrugged.

“Captain Rogers, I know you believe what you’re doing is right. But for the collective good, you must surrender now,” Vision instructed as Tony’s army of blind fools all marched up to the line Vision had created.

“What do we do, Cap?” Sam asked, voicing Kat’s exact thoughts.

None of them had signed on to have to persistently fight their friends. They just wanted to stop a madman from gaining control of five psycho assassins.

Regardless, it seemed they would have to fight if they wanted to make it out of there in time.

Steve took a shaky breath, realizing just that.

“We fight,” he said strongly, his firm voice not giving away how worried he was.

They all exchanged anxious looks but nodded and started marching towards the other team.

They started racing forward, the three super soldiers leading the team as Wanda used her powers to soar upwards and Sam used his wings to fly ahead. 

They all jumped ahead and started fighting different people.

Steve and Tony got into a fistfight at the center of the chaos. T’Challa jumped on Bucky and tried to hit him, but Bucky was prepared and blocked his attack with his metal arm before punching him in the chest countless times. 

Sam dove after Spider-Man and the pair started waging battle in the air.

Natasha and Scott continued their fighting from early and Scott managed to throw Natasha onto the ground once again.

Clint and Wanda started attacking Vision. Wanda used her powers to try and toss him through the air and Clint fired dozens of arrows at him, but he seemed dead set on not allowing Wanda to get the upper hand again and started firing beams from his infinity stone at them, crushing one of Clint’s arrows. 

Kat fought Rhodey in a fistfight. She seemed to be winning until he started firing weapons from his suit, making her jump back after nearly getting hit.

She cursed and glared at him, clenching her jaw before darting forwards and launching a series of punches and kicks, overwhelming Rhodey with the sheer power behind her attack. 

She wrapped her legs around his neck and flipped him over her body, making him fall to the ground with a loud grunt,  before bouncing back up and kicking him in the side, throwing him to ground once again as he tried to get back up.

He stood up and glared at her. “Okay, see, now all you’ve done is tick me off,” he warned, raising his hand at her.

Kat’s eyes widened and she winced, but before his blast could come, Wanda stopped him, using her powers to throw him through the sky into a nearby truck.

Kat let out a sigh of relief. “Thanks,” she breathed and she nodded to her.

She ran away with Wanda, passing Clint shooting arrows at Tony.

Kat pulled out one of her special toys and grinned at the gun in her hands. It didn’t fire bullets but instead, an electric blast that could knock out communications systems.

“Scott is in there,” Clint warned, seeing her weapon.

“It won’t hurt him,” Kat assured him. “If anything it should help him,” she said as she aimed the gun at Tony. “Let’s see how Stark likes living in the dark,” she smirked before pulling the trigger and blasting the gun.

Kat ran away and spotted the Spider-Man, she grinned when she saw him struggling to cling onto a large crate. “Steve, got you?”

“Yeah,” he sighed. “Is it true he’s from Brooklyn?”

“Yeah,” Kat nodded. “I am too. Me, Steve, and the guy with the metal arm.”

“Really? Cool! I had a best friend from Brooklyn,” he said and Kat frowned.

“You’ve really never been in a fight before have you?”

“Do you could the sixth grade bullies?”

“No.”

“Then, no.”

Kat snorted. “Well, then, good luck with that,” she said, nodding to the large crate.

“Thanks! I think I’m getting the hang of it!” He exclaimed just as the crate slipped. “Alright, maybe not,” he winced.

Kat ran past him to see Natasha stepping in front of her.

“Shit,” Kat sighed.

“Just what I was thinking,” Natasha mumbled before the two women got into a fist fight.

Meanwhile, across the airport, Steve and Bucky bounced back from the fight and Bucky looked up at Steve with worried eyes. 

“We gotta go,” Bucky said. “That guy’s probably in Siberia by now.”

“We gotta draw out the flyers,” Steve said, looking up at Vision, Tony, and Rhodey. “I’ll take Vision, you get to the jet.”

“No, Steve,” Kat grunted as Natasha wrapped her legs around her neck and made her fall to the ground. “Both of you have to get to the jet!” She yelled as she grabbed Natasha’s arms and flipped the woman over her body. 

“She’s right, Steve, the rest of us aren’t getting out of here!” Sam screamed as he narrowly avoided a shot from Tony.

“No,” Bucky shook his head firmly. “I’m not leaving Kat behind.”

“Now’s not the time to be protective, Bucky!” Kat shouted. “I’ll be fine. You need to stop that doctor!”

“As much as I hate to admit it, if we’re gonna win this one, some of us might have to lose it,” Clint said.

“This isn’t the real fight, Steve,” Sam reminded him.

Wanda ran up and freed Kat from Natasha before the pair ran away.

“Are they really going to leave us?” Wanda breathed.

“They have no choice. They have to stop that doctor from unleashing five super soldiers on the world.”

Wanda sighed. “I know you’re right. It just feels strange that we won’t be leaving here with them,” Wanda admitted and Kat nodded, gulping as she met Bucky’s eyes across the field. 

“I know what you mean,” Kat sighed. Her eyes widened as she looked behind Wanda and pulled out her electric blast gun. “Duck!” She cried before shooting Rhodey with the full blast.

Wanda ducked and as Rhodey was spiraling, Wanda gained control of his armor and flung him into a large crate.

“Alright, Sam,” Steve said into the comms. “What’s the play?”

“We need a diversion,” Sam said. “Something big.”

“We can’t just leave Kat here. Who knows what they’ll do to her?” Bucky said.

“As sweet as that is, Bucky,” Kat said, crying out in pain as T’Challa threw her off her feet. “You know I’ll be okay. If I survived Hydra I sure as hell can survive these guys.”

“I promised never to leave you again,” Bucky breathed.

“And right now, I’m okay with you breaking the promise, so long as you save the world while doing it,” Kat replied, kicking T’Challa in the stomach.

“I love you,” Bucky said.

“I love you too,” Kat said before being spun into a chokehold by T’Challa.

“Hey, yo, lovebirds! We can  _ all hear you _ !” Sam reminded them.

“I think it’s cute,” Clint shrugged. “Let them be.”

“Oh, sure, taking Kat’s side why don’t you?” Sam said, rolling his eyes as he spund around and fired his guns as Tony and Rhodey. “Nobody sides with me these days.”

“If you guys are done arguing over comms, I think I got something kinda big,” Scott announced. 

“What’s that supposed to mean?” Kat choked out before kneeing T’Challa in the groin.

“Never mind that, I can’t hold the distraction very long, so, on my signal, run like hell. And if I tear myself in half, don’t come back for me,” Scott instructed and Kat’s eyes widened.

“I’m sorry, what?!” She exclaimed before punched T’Challa repetitively in the face.

“Did he say he’s gonna tear himself in half?” Bucky clarified.

“You sure about this, Scott?” Steve prompted.

“I do it all the time,” Scott shrugged. “I mean once. In a lab. Then I passed out.”

“Oh, that sounds promising,” Kat mumbled sarcastically.

Scott took a deep breath. “I’m the boss, I’m the boss, I’m the boss. I’m the boss!” He shouted before jumping onto Rhodey’s back.

He pressed a button on his suit and within seconds the whole airport could see the giant form of Scott Lang.

“Holy shit!” Kat screamed, jumping back in shock as the giant Scott Lang clung tightly onto Rhodey’s leg. “Okay, I’m gonna be honest Scott, when you said you had a diversion I did  _ not _ picture this.”

“Oh, yeah!” Scott laughed victoriously. 

“Okay, tiny dude is big now. He’s big now,” Rhodey announced anxiously.

“I guess that’s the signal,” Steve sighed. 

“Way to go, Tic Tac!” Sam laughed. 

Scott started swinging Rhodey through the air and Kat snickered as he played around with the War Machine like he was his favorite toy.

“Give me back my Rhodey!” Tony yelled, but before he could do anything about Scott holding Rhodey captive, Sam came flying in and kicked Tony roughly in the chest.

Scott flung Rhodey into the air and Spider-Man ran up the wing of an airplane, preparing to catch him.

“I got him! I got him!” He exclaimed, running after Rhodey and shooting one of his webs onto his back.

Meanwhile, Kat hadn’t noticed T’Challa running up to her and preparing to attack her from behind, transfixed by Scott’s giant form.

Apparently, the distraction had worked far too well.

T’Challa flipped her onto her back and she let out a scream, drawing Scott’s attention. 

T’Challa threw her up in the air and jumped up, kicking her backwards several times.

Scott clenched his jaw and grabbed a large tour bus.

He placed one gigantic foot down on it and skidded it towards T’Challa and Kat.

Before the bus could reach them, Scott picked up Kat in one large hand and she laughed as she flew through the air.

“This is amazing!” She exclaimed, looking down at the small people on the ground below her.

Scott grinned at her and she watched as the bus skidded towards T’Challa. Unfortunately, Vision flew in and broke the bus in half before anything could actually happen.

Scott and Kat sighed and Scott handed Kat over to Sam.

He groaned with the added weight of her and she rolled her eyes, pulling out her

blade as she watched Spider-Man spin webs around Scott’s arm.

“Toss me across to that crate,” she instructed, nodding to the crate, just behind Scott’s shoulder.

“I’m sorry, you want me to do what now?!” Sam exclaimed.

“Just do it, you big baby,” Kat snapped.

“Oh, yes, flattering will get you everywhere right now.”

“Sam!” Kat exclaimed.

“Fine, but if you die I’m telling Bucky it was your own stupid ass idea,” Sam warmed before throwing her through the air.

She landed on Scott’s shoulder and cut through the webbing, so his arm wasn’t strapped to his side. 

“Thanks,” Scott said into comms and she tossed him a wink before running down his arm to the crate. 

Rhodey started firing off rounds at Scott and Kat rolled her eyes before pulling out her gun and sending Rhodey flying backwards.

Wanda grabbed him with her powers and sent him even further back as Steve and Bucky neared the quinjet.

“Wanda!” Kat called. “Give me a lift!”

Wanda nodded to her and used her powers to fly the girl to the ground.

“Thank you!”

Kat turned and immediately got a kick to the face from Natasha. “Oh, come on!” She exclaimed and bounced back up. She started punching Nat countless times, seeing less and less of her friend and more and more of a woman who would be willing to kill her if it got her what she wanted.

They fought for a while, narrowly dodging the cars Wanda tried to throw at Rhodey and Tony.

“Something just flew in me!” Scott cried and Kat jumped up, looking behind Scott in horror.

“Wanda! Come with me!” Kat yelled.

Wanda jumped down off her crate and ran to Kat, wrapping her arm around the girl’s waist before flying up past Scott to wear Steve and Bucky were merely feet away from the quinjet.

Just as they landed, Vision used his infinity stone to blast the pillar beside the entrance.

“I knew it!” Kat snapped. “Wanda, can you hold that?” 

“I can try,” Wanda nodded, and Kat grinned.

Wanda grabbed the collapsing pillar with her powers and slowed the rate of it crumbling, fighting with everything in her to buy the men some time.

“Run!” Kat shouted and the both looked back with wide eyes as they saw how much it was straining Wanda.

They started running faster and Kat believed they might just make it until Rhodey flew up behind them and blasted them with waves of high pitched noise.

They both cried out in agony and Bucky winced as he looked back and saw his girlfriend fall to the ground, covering her ears in pain.

However, he didn’t see when Kat fumbled in her belt and pulled out her electro blast gun, firing several rounds at Rhodey.

“Fuck you!” She screamed before falling to the ground, face first and rubbing her temples in pain. 

“You alright, Katty?” Sam asked over comms.

“All good, Sam,” she moaned. “Strike out the flyers, I’ll take care of Wanda.”

“Alright,” he sighed and flew away.

Kat crawled over to Wanda and the young witch rolled over in her arms. 

“Are you okay?” Kat asked.

Wanda groaned and nodded.

Kat looked back just in time to see Rhodey and Tony punch Scott hard in the face.

“I’ll be right back,” Kat promised before jumping up and running to the spot

where Scott fell.

“Scott!” Kat screamed. “Scott!” She yelled.

He shrank back down to normal size and she slid down by his side.

She pressed the button on the side of his helmet and tossed it to the side.

“Are you okay? You took a lot of hits back there,” Kat said.

He groaned in pain and narrowed his eyes at her. “You wouldn’t happen to have any orange slices, would you?”

Kat giggled. “No, but I do wanna say thank you. You saved my boyfriend, and now I’m indebted to you.”

“How about we pay off that debt with some orange slices, huh? Just one? I could seriously use the vitamins right now.”

“Sorry, no sale.”

Scott groaned. “I’m gonna need a long bath after this.”

Kat stood up and watched as Tony and Rhodey flew down to the ground and started figuring out where everyone on Cap’s side was.

She cursed. “That might be a long way off, Lang,” Kat sighed before running across the airport to wear Wanda and Vision laid.

“Vision! What the hell are you doing?!” Kat exclaimed.

“Miss Hastings, I’m so sorry,” Vision apologized.

“Yeah, you tried to kill me. Don’t think I’ll forgive and forget that,” Kat sighed as she sat down across from Wanda.

Suddenly, Vision turned up and used his infinity stone to blast up into the sky.

“Sam, duck now!” Kat yelled into her comms.

Sam didn’t even look down before immediately doing as she said and retracting his wings, flipping through the sky as Vision’s blast missed him and hit Rhodey right in the chest.

Kat shared a horrified look with Vision.

She meant for him to miss Sam, she didn’t think he would hit Rhodey.

She threw off her belt filled with weapons and immediately raced towards the open field Rhodey was falling into rapidly.

Sam grabbed her off the ground and flew towards Rhodey immediately.

Across from them, Tony was flying towards Rhodey as well, screaming after his best friend desperately.

Rhodey landed in the ground with a thud, causing the dirt to fly up around him. Tony jumped down and darted over to him, taking his helmet off and revealing an unconscious Rhodey with a nosebleed.

“Shit,” Kat breathed as she and Sam landed. “Tony, I’m so sorry,” Kat apologized and Tony powered up his blaster before firing at each of them, making them soar backwards onto the ground. 

Meanwhile, Vision landed just past them and stared in horror at Tony clutching his best friend’s unconscious body, unsure if he would survive until emergency medical arrived.


	32. The Floating Prison

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Two more chapters, holy shit. For those of you that really like this story, let me know if you'd be up to a sequal.

The doors whirred and chugged open and Tony walked into the cell block containing all his friends.

Each of them stood up at his arrival, just to take the time to glare at him.

After the battle in Leipzig, Tony had been far too eager to have everyone who fought on Steve’s sight arrested in maximum containment.

Now, the kind billionaire was paying the lowly criminals a visit.

Clint’s sarcastic applause echoed throughout the room, making Tony hand his head in guilt.

“The Futurist, gentlemen!” Clint exclaimed. “The Futurist is here! He sees all! He knows what’s best for you, whether you like it or not,” he mumbled as Tony stepped up to his cell.

“Give me a break, Barton. I had no idea they’d put you in here. Come on,” Tony snapped.

“Yeah, but you knew they’d put Kat in here,” Clint retorted and Tony froze. “Where else would the rest of us go, Tony?”

“I didn’t think it would be some super-max floating ocean pokey. You know? This place is for maniacs. This is a place for-.”

“Criminals,” Clint finished with a nod. “Criminals, Tony. I think that’s the word you’re looking for, right?” He asked as he stood up and looked through the glass and bars encasing his cell. “That didn’t used to mean me. Or Kat, or Sam or Wanda. But here we are.”

“Because you broke the law,” Tony argued, still trying to fight for his point of view.

“Yeah,”  Clint sighed.

“I didn’t make you.”

“La, la, la, la, la,” Clint hummed, tuning out Tony’s useless words.

“You read it, you broke it,” Tony said. 

“La, la, la,” Clint continued.

“Alright. You’re all grown up, you got a wife and kids,” Tony said, growing annoyed with Clint tuning him out.

Clint’s eyes widened and he clenched his jaw at what Tony had just said on camera to the government. 

“I don’t understand, why didn’t you think about them before you chose the wrong side?” Tony wondered and Clint turned to him with an exasperated smirk.

Clint stood up and marched towards Tony and Tony immediately started walking away from his cell.

“You gotta watch your back with this guy,” Clint announced. ‘There’s a chance he’s gonna break it!” He shouted, slamming his hands down on the walls of the cell.

Tony sighed and shook his head as he marched past the cells.

“Hank Pym always said you can never trust a Stark,” Scott hummed as Tony walked past his cell.

“Who are you?” Tony smirked.

Scott rolled his eyes. “Come on, man,” he sighed.

Tony walked up to Kat’s cell and peered through the glass and bars.

She was sitting on her bed, her ponytail pulled out and her hair frizzy and messed up, framing her face. 

She had a light blue straightjacket on mirroring the one Wanda wore in the cell beside her, except she didn’t have on the electromagnetic collar that Wanda did.

Kat turned and glared at Tony, clenching her jaw at him.

“I have nothing to say to you,” Kat snapped.

“Hey, listen, I’m sorry. I didn’t know they would bring you here and I certainly didn’t think they would put you and Wanda in some straightjackets like some sort of mental patients.”

“Wanda and I kept banging on the glass and screaming. She tried to use her powers to break out even though she had the collar. Straightjackets were the only things that stopped us,” Kat explained.

“I didn’t mean for it to go this far.”

“Yes, you did!” Kat exclaimed. “If you’re gonna give me a fake apology, at the very least, don’t lie in it,” Kat said, standing up and marching towards the glass door. “You, just like everyone here, think that I have some kind of fucking Stockholm Syndrome or serious mental issues if I fell in love with an assassin like Bucky.”

“Kat, you gotta admit it did feel kind of fishy when you were willing to kill for the guy that murdered JFK. We had to get you looked at and make sure, based on your past, that you weren’t unravelling.”

“What? Based on my past of sexual assault? Are you fucking kidding me? I know you had to get me looked at because I was once the doctor looking at girls like me!” Kat snapped. 

“We were just looking out for you,” Tony reasoned.

“No, Bucky was looking out for me when he killed for me, this is totally selfish,” Kat said. “You just want recognition for being the better man. You want to have the public look at you and not be anxious or terrified of what attack would be coming next and instead, look at you with the admiration they used to. And, Tony, I’ll be damned if I’m gonna give you that recognition.”

“Fine,” Tony sighed. He leant back against the glass and peered at her as she collapsed back onto her bed. “What do you need, Kat? Have they fed you yet?”

“Oh, so you wanna be the good cop, now?” Kat scoffed.

“I just wanna know where your boyfriend flew off too,” Tony shrugged.

“Well, you better go get a bad cop because you’re gonna have to have me seconds away from death before I even think about telling you where they went,” Kat said. 

Tony sighed and watched her carefully before walking past Wanda’s cell to Sam’s.

“How’s Rhodes?” Sam asked immediately.

“They’re flying him to Columbia Medical tomorrow, so fingers crossed,” Tony said. “You’re probably gonna react the same as Kat-,” Tony began.

Kat scoffed. “Don’t doubt it!” She called.

“But I need to know where Steve went,” Tony finished lamely.

“Like the girl said, you’re gonna have to go Mark Fuhrman on my ass to get information out of me,” Sam snapped.

Tony took a deep breath and tapped around on his watch for a minute. 

“Well, I just knocked the A out of their AV,” Tony said. “We got about thirty seconds before they realize it’s not their equipment,” he said rapidly as sam looked up at the cameras in his cell. “Just look,” Tony requested and tapped around on his watch a bit more. He pulled out an image of a dead man with a bloody nose, leaning over in a tub. “Because that, is the fellow who was supposed to interrogate Barnes and Hastings,” he said as Kat flipped him off from within her straightjacket. “Clearly, I made a mistake. Sam, I was wrong.”

Kat chuckled. “That’s a first,” she remarked and Tony rolled his eyes. 

“Cap is definitely off the reservation, but about to need all the help he can get. We don’t know each other very well. You don’t have to-,” he began but Sam cut him off with a shake of his head. 

“Hey, it’s alright,” Sam sighed. He took a deep breath and met Tony’s eyes. “Look, I’ll tell you,” he said and Kat’s heart stopped.

“Sam!” She shrieked.

“But you have to go alone and as a friend,” Sam insisted and Kat screamed.

“Easy,” Tony shrugged.


	33. The Great Escape

Kat paced her cell anxiously, listening to Scott bounce a small ball against her side of the wall in boredom.

She rolled her eyes and wondered if she paced the floor enough times each day, the floor could fall through and take her with it.

Needless to say, she hated prison.

However, her anxious situation changed the day the alarms went off.

It had started with a few red lights and distant wailing along the halls.

Kat frowned and walked towards the door to her cell, noticing as all her friends did the same in confusion.

Scott loudly dropped the ball on the floor and walked forwards.

The lights in the cell block began to flicker and soon shut down.

The generators kicked it and each of their cells were illuminated.

“What the hell is going on?” Scott mumbled.

“Yeah, sure, like we know any more than you do,” Kat replied sarcastically.

“That was a rhetorical question,” Scott replied.

“Whatever, prison’s made me bitter,” Kat sighed.

“We’ve been in here for a day,” Scott argued.

“And in that day, I’ve been thrown into a bulletproof cage in the middle of fuckign nowhere, forced into a straightjacket and interrogated for two hours about the whereabouts of my boyfriend. I think it’s safe to say our situation is worse than that of the typical prison experience.”

Scott nodded. “Fair point.”

Suddenly, off in the distance they heard loud crashes and gunfire.

“Someone must’ve broken it,” Kat said, frowning in confusion. “Who the hell would want to break into this shithole?”

“Ten guesses,” Clint replied with a small smirk and her eyes widened.

“No,” Kat breathed. “You don’t think they’ve found us already?” Kat prompted.

“Must have. Who else would put up this much of a fight to get into a prison?” Clint asked and Kat shrugged. 

“You’re probably right, but what are you gonna do? Tony told Ross about your family,” Kat reminded him and Clint sighed.

“Go into hiding, I guess,” he mumbled. “I don’t have much of a choice. I have a two-year-old.”

“Yeah,” Kat nodded. “I get that. I have a couple safehouses you can use but they’re all out of country.”

“I’ll see if I can hopefully find something here, but thanks,” Clint said.

“No problem, anything for a friend,” Kat shrugged.

Right after she said that, there was a loud crash and gunfire nearing the door just outside their cell block.

Clint and Kat exchanged a wide-eyed expression as dents formed in the steel door blocking the entrance to the cell block. There were a couple more loud crashes before there was a screaming siren and the door chugged open.

Kat turned to see Bucky and Steve run through. 

Steve was wearing a very casual long-sleeve shirt and Bucky was donning a

similar outfit as he jammed his fist on the button and slammed the door closed before the guards could run through.

Steve walked up to Sam who turned and smirked at the sight of him, while Bucky ran over to Kat immediately.

“Bucky!” Kat cried, peering over the bars.

“Hey, we’re gonna get you out of here,” Bucky promised. “Just hang in there alright?”

“Sure, but what the hell happened to your arm?!” Kat exclaimed, seeing his severed metal arm and the tight white bandages wrapped around it.

“Stark,” Bucky sighed and Kat turned to glare at Sam.

“I knew bringing him into this was a bad idea,” Kat muttered.

“Yeah, well, what the hell are you doing in a straightjacket?” Bucky wondered.

“I wouldn’t stop banging on the walls and screaming at them to let me out,” Kat smirked. “This is technically just to shut me up,” Kat shrugged.

Bucky chuckled. “That’s my girl,” he hummed before turning to Steve as he pulled out the electrical grid powering their cells.

They stared at it for a good ten minutes, unsure of what to do and Kat rolled her eyes. They were such old men.

She sighed and turned to Clint. “Do you have any idea how to manage the electrical array powering our cells?”

“I have some pretty basic knowledge, yeah,” Clint nodded.

“Good, if I was able to talk you through what I saw, could you tell me how to power it down?”

“I think so, sure.”

“Okay, Steve, Bucky, move out of the way and let me see the box,” Kat instructed.

They did as she said and Kat narrowed her eyes at the box. “Alright, on the left, there is a black panel with a white box on top of it. It has six white wires coming out of it and leading into black switches on the top.”

They heard loud gunfire outside the door and everyone’s heart rate tripled.

“I don’t mean to rush perfection, but can we get a move on here?” Sam requested and Kat rolled her eyes.

“Give me a second!” Kat snapped.

“We don’t have a second!” Sam retorted.

“In the right corner, there’s a large black box. It has black wires leading to the switches on the top too as well as wires leading down to a white box beneath it.”

Clint took a deep breath. “It sounds familiar. If I remember correctly , you need to cut the black wires leading down to the white box below it,” Clint instructed and Kat nodded to the men.

Bucky pulled out a blade and cut all the right wires.

Kat held her breath and prayed that Clint was right and didn’t somehow accidentally electrocute all of them.

Luckily, his memory had served him right and they lights flickered before there were several loud hisses and the doors chugged open.

“Thank, God!” Kat cried, running out of her cell.

Bucky darted up to her and hugged her tightly before spinning her around and taking off her straightjacket.

She sighed in relief as she gained the ability to move her arms again. She stretched and grinned up at Bucky. “That feels nice,” she sighed before pulling him into a deep kiss.

Meanwhile, Steve was pulling off his girlfriend’s straightjacket as well and powering down her electromagnetic collar.

He threw the useless junk to the ground and wrapped her in a tight hug as she sobbed into his chest.

The others stepped out of their cells and peered at the banging at the door.

“How do we get out?” Clint wondered.

“How else?” Steve smiled. “We fight.”


	34. Epilogue- I Can't Trust My Own Mind

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> Hey, you guys! I just saw Infinity War and since it utterly destroyed me I have decided to write a sequel for this story based off it! The first chapter will hopefully be up soon!

Kat tapped through the monitoring screens, checking Bucky’s vitals before walking up and wrapping his arm up.

She smirked at him and he grinned at her.

“It’s like when we first met,” Bucky remarked and Kat giggled.

“Not exactly. Now, you’re not screaming at me in Russian,” Kat corrected and Bucky chuckled.

“Fair point,” he nodded. “But I mean, you’re my doctor again,” he amended. “It’s almost like nothing’s changed.”

“And yet, at the same time, everything has changed,” Kat sighed.

“Yep,” Bucky nodded. “Because now, I get to do this,” he said before delicately pulling her chin up and gently pressing his lips against her.

“Is that the only thing that’s changed to you?” Kat smiled.

“Definitely not, but that’s the one that’s made me happiest,” Bucky nodded and Kat grinned.

Her grin quickly faltered as she looked back at the cryochamber Bucky was being prepped to be put in. 

“You sure about this?” Kat asked, silently praying that he would say no and she could grasp onto more time with the man she loved.

Bucky sighed. “I can’t trust my own mind,” he muttered. He faked a smile for her and Kat rolled her eyes, placing her thumb gently on his lips.

“Please, don’t ever do that to me again. If these are our last few minutes together for God knows how long, I don’t ever want to see you fake a smile for me, okay?”

He nodded, smiling softly at her. “Okay.”

“Are you sure this is the best thing right now?” Kat wondered, glancing back at the wretched chamber.

“Until they figure out how to get this stuff out of my head I think going back under is the best thing,” Bucky sighed. “For everybody.”

“Not for me,” Kat mumbled bitterly, allowing herself to be selfish in that brief moment, if it meant she could convince Bucky to stay with her.

Bucky smirked and cupped her cheek with his hand. “I won’t leave you forever,” Bucky swore. “In fact, if it helps anymore, how about I make you a promise?” Bucky offered and Kat looked up at him with a small confused frown that Bucky found utterly adorable. He took a deep breath and looked at the chamber. “When they pull me out of that thing, and they  _ will _ pull me out,” Bucky assured her. “What would you say to becoming Mrs Barnes?”

Kat’s heart stopped. “Did you just propose to me?”

“It was pretty shitty, I know. I’ll give you a better proposal when I get out, but right now I’m just feeling kinda anxious about going under and-.”

Kat cut him off by roughly crushing his lips with her own, making him fall back in his seat in surprise.

It took a moment before he started responding and wrapped his hand tightly around her waist.

When they pulled apart, they were both breathless and gazing at each other with sloppy grins.

“Yes, of course I’d say yes. Hell, I’d say yes a thousand times if we had the time,” Kat told him and he grinned like a little kid from ear to ear.

“Really?” Bucky asked and she nodded firmly.

“Yes, you idiot!” She laughed, slapping him playfully across the chest. “Why on Earth would I say no?!” She exclaimed and he shrugged innocently.

“I don’t know,” Bucky said. “I guess I just thought-.”

She cut him off by kissing him again, but much sweeter and softer this time.

“Yes, Buck,” Kat said and he smiled. 

“I love you,” he said. 

“I love you too,” she grinned.

Kat almost wished she could stay in that moment with him forever, gazing into his ocean blue eyes that sparked up even her darkest nights.

She was unsure how well she would handle her nightmares and pain without him jumping up by her side and reminding her that she was safe and protected.

It would hurt every time she woke up and didn’t feel his arms wrapped tightly around her, but somehow, she knew she would make it through.

After all, she did have something to look forward to when Bucky got out of cryo, she thought with a small smirk. 

One of the doctors walked up and announced that the system was ready for Bucky, the couple exchanged a look and shared a heavy sigh before Bucky stood up and started marching towards the chamber. He turned to Kat and kissed her one last time as Steve walked into the room and stood closely behind her.

Kat heard his footsteps and immediately grabbed his hand, squeezing it tightly as she watched Bucky be put into cryo.

He closed his eyes peacefully and Kat couldn’t help but flashback to the pictures she had seen in his Hydra files ages ago. In every cryostasis photo they took of him, he always looked like he was crying or screaming, but when she looked at him in that moment, he looked like he was happily dreaming.

Kat felt her heart soar at the improvements she had seen in him. He had come so far, and he was still improving.

The ice chugged into the system, freezing Bucky as Kat turned to Steve.

“Oh, yeah,” she sighed. “He proposed to me,” she grinned and Steve’s eyes widened.

“Seriously?” Steve said and she nodded. “Well, you’re gonna have something to look forwards to, then,” he chuckled. “Congratulations.”

“Thanks.”

Steve took a deep breath and looked over at Bucky in the cryochamber. “I think I’m gonna sit by the window and think for a bit,” Steve said and she nodded, following his gaze and taking a shaky breath. 

“I think I’ll join you,” she said. 

They walked down the hallways together and approached a large glass window, looking out over all of Wakanda.

They sat in silence for a while, just allowing themselves to absorb the fact that Bucky had really left, and not just for a few hours or many a week. He was really going to be in that cryochamber for months, or even years.

Eventually, T’Challa walked up to Kat’s side and looked through the window with them.

“Thank you for this,” Steve said, barely even glancing over to T’Challa as he spoke.

“And thank you for letting me be apart of your medical team,” Kat nodded. “I know you have a more than capable staff, but it’ll really help me to be able to see him and not worry about what could happen while he was here.”

“It is my pleasure,” T’Challa said. “Your boyfriend and my father were both victims. If I help one of them find peace…,” he trailed off.

“You know, if they find out we’re here, they’ll come for us,” Kat reminded T’Challa.

T’Challa took a deep breath and clenched his jaw. “Let them try.”


End file.
